


Dealing with Life as Spider-Man

by Kdegarnham



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-06-29 20:16:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19837765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kdegarnham/pseuds/Kdegarnham
Summary: This is just a story about Peter Parker dealing with his life as well as PTSD from being Spider-Man and normal teenage problems.Not Civil War compliant meaning The Avengers are all friends and Tony still owns Stark Tower.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone. This is my first completed story that I'm posting. It's the longest story I have ever written. I hope you guys enjoy.

Peter received a text during his first period from Tony Stark, saying they were having a family dinner that night with a special guest. Not wanting to push, Peter didn't ask about the special guest. Tony had kicked all the Avengers out of the tower for a week and a half by paying for them all to have a holiday somewhere that wasn't America almost a week prior so Peter had thought Tony was planning something. The only people still at Stark Tower were Pepper, Tony, Happy, Peter and the workers. It was a Friday so Peter still had to go to school.

***

It was early morning and Peter had just finished his first class. He maneuvered his way around the school to his locker. Then Peter saw Harley. Harley was a new kid at Midtown. All Peter could think when he saw him for the first time was "Wow. He looks amazing." 

Peter continued to notice the cute boy as he walked between classes and even during a few of his classes. But he still didn't say anything to anyone. Ned had noticed his friend was acting different and MJ was pretty sure she knew what was up but she didn't confront Peter or tell Ned when he asked her. 

Peter received another text during his last period saying that Happy was going to pick him up after school. After sitting through what felt like hours of history, Peter raced out of the class before the bell had even finished ringing. Peter almost threw himself into the car when he saw Happy waiting. 

"Hi, Mr Happy. How are you today?" Peter almost yelled as he put his seatbelt on. Happy grunted unhappily in response.  
"My day was great. Ned saved up enough money to buy a big lego set and he said he would wait till I could go to his house before he opened it so I can't wait for our next sleepover and there is a cute boy in my class and he smiled at me and then I got the text that you were picking me up and we have a special family dinner tonight and I'm really excited." Peter said in one breath.

Peter was silent for a couple of seconds before he realised what he had said. He looked up into the rearview mirror to see Happy's face. Happy had his eyebrows raised questioningly and was smirking, knowing Peter hadn't meant to slip up about the boy. 

“Please don’t tell anyone I said that. I haven’t even told Ned that type of thing. I don't want anyone else knowing right now.”

"We are waiting for someone else to get in the car before we go to the tower." Happy said, pretending now that he didn't hear what Peter had said. Peter sat up straight at that.

"Really? Who?" Just then, the door opened. 

"Sorry I took so long, Mr Hogan. I couldn't get my code right to my locker and there were big crowds in the hallway," The boy said as he climbed into the car. Once he was sitting in the car and had put his seatbelt on, Happy started the engine. Peter was sitting in his seat, staring, wide-eyed.

"Hi. I'm Harley. Harley Keener." Harley stuck out his hand to Peter.

"Uh... Peter. Parker." Peter shook his hand and tried not to stare any longer. 

The short ride to Start Tower was mostly silent, other than Harley talking to Happy a little bit. 

They pulled up to the tower back entrance and the two boys got out. Happy drove the car off to the garage. They both walked into the tower and seemed to be heading towards the same place. Tony Stark's private elevator. The elevator was reserved for Tony, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and The two young boys. 

"I'm sorry. I must ask. Who exactly are you?" Peter asked once they were in the elevator. 

"Harley Keener? I said so in the car." 

"Yeah, but, like, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for dinner. I'm not normally here. But recently Mr Stark asked me if I wanted to move here after some stuff happened at home. I met him a few years ago. I agreed to move here but not right away. I hardly know this place. I've been here a few times. I'm supposed to have dinner with Mr Stark and Miss Pepper tonight to talk about if I’m staying here or not." Harley realised everything he had said a second after he said it. "I'm sorry. That's way too much information. I shouldn't have said all that." He rushed out.

"It's okay. I do the same thing sometimes. Mr Hogan accidentally found out about a secret I've been keeping for almost 3 months because I was so excited that it slipped out without me realising." Peter smiled at Harley.

"Anyway. Who is Peter Parker?" Harley asked.

"I'm just a kid from Queens who somehow managed to get an internship here and was very quickly upgraded to Mr Starks personal intern and then I kinda just moved in here. I only live here a few nights a week though. I spend most of my nights at my Aunt's house. I'm only here over the weekends and late at night if there is an emergency." 

Harley smiled at Peter as the elevator reached the floor they wanted. They both stepped out and went to their own rooms, which happened to be right next door to each other. They laughed slightly and both went into their rooms. 

Peter got changed out of the clothes he had been wearing all day into a space t-shirt and some jeans. He then sat down at his desk and started some homework. 

Harley went into his room and also got changed. He put on a band tee and some black jeans. He then flopped onto his bed and daydreamed about the cute boy on the other side of the wall. 

***

"It is time for dinner. Mr Stark Is waiting for you in the dining area." FRIDAY's voice filled the silence in the bedrooms. 

Peter and Harley both left their rooms at the same time and smiled at each other. They walked to the dining area together and also sat next to each other. 

"Peter. Harley. I see you two have already met." Tony said once everyone had sat down.

"Kinda hard not to when we are at the same school and you had Mr Happy pick us up from school today," Peter said.

"True. I guess I could have come and picked you up myself so I could introduce you." Tony said, looking at Peter, obviously referring to a previous situation.

"No. Mr Happy picking us up was fine. More than fine. Great. Perfect." Peter said hurriedly. Harley sat quietly, not sure what was going on. 

Tony laughed at Peters reaction while Pepper just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway. There is actually a reason for this dinner. It's not just for me to spend time with my favourite people." Tony said.

"Awe. Mr Stark. You’re one of my favourite people, too." Peter said sarcastically. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Harley. I need to ask now, Is your friend alright?" Harley nodded. 

"Great. Now. I spoke to the officials in Rose Hill and your other family members. They said it is completely fine if you move here permanently. Is that still okay with you?" Tony asked Harley again. Once again, Harley nodded. 

"Peter. I hope it's okay with you but Harley will be living here at Stark Tower."

"That's great. We can be, like, Best friends." Peter said to Harley. Harley smiled.

"I assume you worked out that your rooms are right next to each other. Both of you will still be going to Midtown until you graduate. If you fight, you boys will have to work it out. If there are any minor problems, you boys will have to figure it out. I may be your legal guardian but I am also an Avenger and I'm busy with whatever Pepper has me doing so I can't baby you. You are teenagers." 

"We'll be okay, Mr Stark. Don't worry." Peter said cheerily. Harley nodded in agreement. 

When they finished dinner, Harley and Peter went to their rooms, Pepper went to her room and Tony went to his lab to tinker. 

***

"Wake up. Breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen area." FRIDAY woke the boys up. Harley slept through the AI's alarm. Peter was already awake. Peter walked out to the kitchen and noticed the difference in serving size. He worked out the Harley wasn't super. But he was still super cute. 

Harley woke up almost an hour later. He sleepily made his way to the kitchen, noticing Peter was watching kids cartoons in the lounge area. After grabbing the breakfast that was sitting on the bench still, he walked to the couch that Peter was sitting on and sat next to him. 

"Good morning. Did you miss the alarm this morning?" Peter asked, way too cheery for 9 AM. 

"There was an alarm?" Harley asked.

"Every morning at 8 AM. Mr Stark set it up. I also have a personal one for 6:30 AM on school days." Peter explained. Harley just nodded in understanding.

"Mr Stark is working in his lab and Miss Pepper has meetings all day and all the Avengers are out of the country so it's just you and me today. You wanna hang out or something?" Peter asked.

"Sure. Why not? It'll be fun." Harley said with a smile.

"Cool!" Peter yelled as he ran to his room. "I'll be back out soon. Maybe in about an hour and a half. Please don't knock." Peter called before closing his door. 

Peter quickly got into his suit and started his patrol. 

Harley sat on the couch, confused as to what Peter had said. After asking if he wanted to hang out all day, He just left and said don't knock on the door. What was that supposed to mean? Did Peter not really want to hang out? Did Peter just ditch him? What was going on? 

***

Peter got back to the tower after his patrol only to find Harley still in the same place as he was before Peter left.

"Hey. I'm sorry about that. I hadn't actually realised the time and I had something to do." Peter said as soon as he sat down with Harley.

"It's okay. So. What are we doing today?" Harley pretended to be happy.

"I was thinking of going sightseeing. Take a look around the city a bit." Peter said excitedly.

"Sure. I need to get dressed first. Meet back here in about 20 minutes?" Harley suggested.

"Sure." Both boys ran off to their rooms and got ready for the day. 

They left the tower at 11:00 AM after Tony forced them to take some money. 

Peter and Harley explored Manhattan, neither of them ever having the chance to have done so previously. They spent all day just looking around, not really going too far from the tower. They stopped for lunch at a small restaurant. They made it back to the tower just before dinner time. Tony and Pepper joined them for dinner again.

"What did you two get up to today?" Pepper asked during dinner.

"We walked around a bit. Just got to know each other. Not much." Harley replied. 

"Sounds like fun," Tony said. 

Dinner was mostly quiet after that short conversation. Everyone went their own ways after dinner again. Peter went to his room, claiming he was tired from being out all day. He changed into his suit and climbed out the window, swinging to queens. He stayed out till almost 1 AM, way past his curfew. 

Harley went to his room and re-read the book he had with him, The Maze Runner. He had read it so many times but he loved it. He couldn't focus on his book tonight, though. After spending all day with Peter, he was even more interested in the cute boy. He lay on his bed, pretending to flip through the book, as Tony came in. 

"Hey, Kiddo."  
"Hey, Mr Stark."  
"How are you doing?"  
"I'm alright, Mr Stark."  
"You don't have to keep calling me Mr Stark. You can call me Tony."  
"I know, Mr Stark, but I was always taught to call adults by their last names or at least with Mr or Mrs or Miss in front of their names. And Mr Tony just doesn't sound right."  
"Whatever, Kid. Anyway. Are you okay with Peter? He isn't overwhelming you?"  
"No. He's fun to hang out with. Maybe now I'll have some friends at school and we can hang out here, too."  
"Peter won't be here all the time, Kiddo. His Aunt still lives in Queens and he stays with her most nights. But at least you boys are okay. I don't want you two fighting all the time, okay?"  
"I know, Mr Stark."  
"Is there anything else from Rose Hill you need? Or do you have everything?"  
"I have all my stuff. If I have forgotten anything. I will let you know. Or at least ask Mr Happy to take me there or something. Promise."  
"Alright. Make sure you try to sleep tonight. You boys looked tired at dinner tonight. If you need anything-"  
"- Talk to FRIDAY, yes, I know."  
"Alright, Kiddo. Night."  
"Night, Mr Stark."

Harley laid on his bed and attempted to get to sleep, thoughts of Peter, the new school and his past keeping him awake. Giving up on sleeping, Harley slipped out of his room, glanced at Peters door, then walked to the kitchen. He made himself hot cocoa and settled down at the breakfast bar. He sat there, just thinking about nothing when a crash from the bedrooms caught his attention. He got up to see if Peter was okay. As he approached the hallway, he saw Peter sneaking out of his own room. 

"Hey. What are you doing up?" Harley whisper-yelled  
"Oh. Hey. Sorry. I didn't wake you, did I?"  
"No. I haven't gone to sleep yet. I've just been sitting in the kitchen."  
"Can I join you for a while?"  
"Yeah. I don't mind."

The two boys sat in comfortable silence for almost an hour.

"I'm off to bed now. Should get at least a few hours of sleep. I suggest you go to bed soon, too." Peter said  
"Alright. Night." Harley replied.

Harley and Peter both went back to their rooms. Peter was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Harley went back to bed and actually managed to fall asleep. 

***

"Good morning. Breakfast is ready in the kitchen area." FRIDAY's voice filled the bedrooms again. Harley woke at the voice this time and got up. He shuffled out to the kitchen. Peter was already sitting at the breakfast bar just like he had been a few hours before. Neither boy was wearing a t-shirt. They both stopped and just stared at each other, neither really knowing what to do. 

They both snapped out of their staring session when Pepper walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning boys. Sorry I didn't get to see much of you yesterday. I have been busy organising Tony's company."

"It's okay, Miss Pepper. We had fun yesterday anyway. We went and saw the Empire State building and we visited the Starbucks that's just around the corner." Peter smiled at Pepper.

"That's good to hear. And what are your plans for today?"  
"I don't know. What do you want to do, Harley?"  
"I don't know. What is there to do?"  
"We can play video games or watch movies or something," Peter suggested  
"Yea. sounds fun."  
"You boys have fun and try not to break anything. And Peter, before I forget. The others should be back within the next few days while you are at your aunt's. Please don't ditch your aunt for them."  
"Okay, Miss Pepper. I'll be back Thursday night so it's okay. Let them all settle back in and stuff." Peter said with a mouthful.  
Pepper smiled at Peter before walking out to, what Peter assumed, get ready for more meetings. 

"There are a lot of video games in the lounge. And heaps of movies. And there are snacks here." Peter said once Pepper had left  
“Yea. Sounds like fun.”  
“I do have something to do. I shouldn’t be longer than an hour and a half. I am really sorry. FRIDAY can play any movie or set up any game you want.” Peter left to go out on patrol. Harley sat on the couch in the living room again.

“Hey FRIDAY?” Harley’s voice filled the silent room.  
“Yes, Harley?”  
“Play a playlist of 90’s music, please.”  
The familiar music filled the room and Harley sat and listened to the music for the next hour and a half. 

Peter got back to the tower an hour and 22 minutes later. It was now almost 10 AM. 

“Hey. I am so so so sorry about running off. I hopefully can explain it soon.” Peter was saying as he walked into the living room. 

“It’s alright. Wanna watch a movie or something?” Harley tried to hide the confusion and disappointment in his voice. 

“Yeah. A movie sounds good. Put on whatever you want. I’ll go get snacks and stuff.” Peter said. 

Peter went to the kitchen area and pulled out whatever snacks he could find. He also grabbed a couple of big bottles of soft drinks and carried it all back out to the lounge. He dumped it all on the floor. 

“What are we watching?”  
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Harley said.  
“Ohhh. I love this movie.” 

The two boys sat in silence and watched the movie. When it was finished, all the snacks had been eaten and all the drink was gone. Peter moved to get more food when he noticed Harley was actually asleep. Peter grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over him. (12:30 pm) 

Peter then moved to the kitchen to make himself some proper food. After eating lunch and cleaning up the lounge a bit, Peter made lunch for Harley and Tony. He took Tony’s lunch down to the lab and left Harley’s sitting on the bench. 

“Mr Stark? I have some lunch for you.”  
Tony looked up from the suit he was working on. “Thanks, Kiddo.”  
Peter smiled at Tony and turned to leave.  
“Everything alright, Kid?” Peter smiled at Tony again and nodded.  
“Yeah,” Peter said. Peter left the lab and went back up to the lounge on the private floor. Harley was still asleep on the floor when he got back to the lounge. Peter went to his room and packed what he would need to take to his Aunts. He packed his school stuff and some wires and tools to play with.


	2. Chapter 2

Harley had been really bored for the last couple of days. He loves living at Stark Tower and definitely prefers it to Rose Hill but with Peter at his Aunt's apartment and Tony in the lab all day, Harley sometimes gets bored. He still goes to school but that only fills in about 7 hours a day. 

It was in the car with Happy that Harley was thinking about this. About how bored he was and how bored he will be. He had no idea who would be at Stark Tower when he got home. 

Harley walked into the tower through the side entrance as normal. He used Tony Stark’s personal elevator, as normal. But that is roughly where normal stopped. The elevator doors opened and Harley walked into the unusually packed living room. Harley looked around at the unexpected guests. A tall, muscular guy with blond hair was sitting at one end of one of the couches. Next to him was a scary looking guy with black hair. Next along the line was a small, skinny woman with red hair. Then there was another small woman with darker hair who looked the youngest out of everyone there. Perched on the arm of the singular seat next to the couch was a regular looking man. He didn’t seem as interesting as the others. Sitting in the actual seat was a slightly skinny, older-looking man. He had greying hair and tired, old eyes. Standing behind the couch was another, slightly shorter, muscular blond guy. Next to him was a short man with sleek black hair. 

It took Harley a few seconds to realise what was going on before he really started to freak out. Sitting on the couches in front of him were Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner, Thor, God of Thunder and Loki, God of Mischief. 

“Nope. Not today. No. Not while he isn’t here. This is not happening.” Harley started whispering to himself. 

“Hey. I’m Wanda. What’s your name?” The Scarlet Witch was talking to him. Harley Keener.  
“I’m Harley,” he replied dumbly.  
“Nice to meet you, Harley. Would you like something to eat?” The Black Widow spoke up.  
It was then that Harley noticed the assortment of snacks on the table.  
“Uh… No thank you. I have some stuff- there’s some- I can’t. Sorry. Bye.” Harley walked as quickly as he could out of there.

Harley collapsed onto his bed as soon as he got to his room.  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y? Could you play some popular songs, please? Released between 2010 and 2015.”  
“Yes, Harley.”  
The music filled the room. Harley smiled at the familiarity of the music and tried to ignore the fact that the Avengers were just down the hallway.

*Meanwhile*

“You think we scared him?” Steve asked.  
“Yeah. I think we scared him. He started whispering to himself. I swear he looked like he’d seen a ghost.” Natasha said.  
“Probably should have told Tony to warn him or something,” Bucky mumbled.  
A couple of the others nodded in agreement.  
“Good thing Wanda spoke up when she did. He probably would have fainted.” Natasha observed. Wanda smiled slightly as she nibbled on a biscuit.

Tony chose that moment to walk into the living room.  
“Stark. You just missed your kid. He went to his room, I think.” Steve laughed.  
Tony nodded and headed towards the boys' bedroom.

Tony knocked on the door.  
“Come in,” Harley called out. Tony pushed open the door. He was greeted with the music that was playing.  
“Hey, Kiddo. How was school?”  
“School was okay. Nothing interesting happened, really.” Harley recounted.  
“I’m sorry, Kid. I should have told you that lot would be back today. I honestly didn’t think they would all just be sitting there when you got here.” Harley shrugged his shoulder as if to say it was fine.

“Dinner should be ready in a couple of hours. It will just be us two. I promise. I’ll get F.R.I.D.A.Y to let you know when dinner is ready.” Tony got up and left. 

Tony didn’t fully keep his promise. While it was just Harley and Tony at the dinner table, the Avengers were sitting in the living room eating. They weren’t exactly quiet.

“Those weirdos shouldn’t even be here. I think they are all just waiting to tease me because I’m being responsible and they aren’t.” Tony complained after they heard Thor saying something and all the others laughing in response.

Harley could tell the Tony had missed his friends though. It had only been a week and a half but for someone like Tony who always surrounds himself with people, that may seem like forever. 

“You can go and eat with them, Mr Stark. I’m full anyway. I might just go do my homework or something.” Harley said, understanding that Tony needed his friends.  
“I can't let you go do homework while I have the Avengers in my living room. You wanna come to meet them?” Tony offered.  
“Nah. It’s fine, Mr Stark.” Harley tried.  
“Come on. I’ll clean up in here, you go meet them.” Tony smiled at Harley encouragingly. Harley sighed but headed out to the living room anyway. 

Harley sat in an empty chair that was positioned away from where everyone was sitting. The TV was playing the news so Harley watched that. 

“It’s Harley, right?” Wanda asked from right behind Harley.  
“Uh. Yeah.” Harley mumbled.  
“Are you alright? You seem a little nervous.” She smiled warmly at him.  
“Yeah. I’m just thinking.”  
“Whatcha thinking about?”  
“Nothing.”  
“You’re scared. I get it. Even I'm not fully comfortable around these guys.” She smiled at Harley.  
“Really? But don’t you fight with these guys? Like a proper team? Shouldn’t a team, like, trust each other?”  
“I do trust them. But I am the youngest here by quite a few years. And I know that everyone here has lost something important to them but I can’t get over it the same way these guys can.”  
Harley realised a little bit at that moment that these heroes, these people, weren’t too different. They were human. Just like him.  
“I’m sorry for your losses. I think, if you really need it, you could ask Mr Stark for some help or something.” Harley offered.  
“It’s alright, Kid. Anyway. You want to properly meet The Avengers?” Wanda smiled excitedly at Harley.  
“Yeah.” Harley smiled back just as widely.

“Oi. You guys.” Wanda caught the attention of the others in the room.  
“This is Harley. Harley, this is Nat, Steve, Bucky, Thor, Bruce, Clint and Loki.” Wanda pointed at each person as she said their names. Each of them waved as their name was announced.  
“Nice to properly meet you, Harley. Would you like to join us? We were thinking about starting a movie.”  
“Uh. I can’t stay up too late. I still have school tomorrow. But I guess I can watch part of a movie.” Harley said.  
“Great. What should we watch? Taking suggestions from everyone except Loki.” Loki rolled his eyes at what the Captain had said but stayed quiet.

After some discussion, a movie had started. Harley wasn’t paying much attention. He was still a little shocked that The Avengers were sitting in the same room as him. 

Harley made sure to keep an eye on the time. When it was about 9:00, He slowly made his way around the room, making sure to move quietly and around the back of all the seats. 

“Night, Harley.” Harley heard from behind him. Shit.  
“Uh… Night,” he called out.

Harley went to his room and just sat there, a little shocked at that afternoon's events. 

“Hey, Kiddo.” Tony pushed the door open.  
“Hey, Mr Stark,” Harley replied.  
“You alright? You seem a little… out of it.”  
“I got home from school to see The Avengers sitting in casual clothes eating snacks in the same living room I’ve been in for the last week. I’m just a little surprised I guess.”  
“Fair point. They shouldn’t all be there when you wake up. The spies have a few floors below us. Super Soldiers above that then Magicians above them.” Tony explained. “And that’s a couple of floors below this. They might be up here as this is the only floor that I have put a TV into but I can change that if you want me to.”  
“It’s alright, Mr Stark. I just wasn’t really expecting that when I got home.” Harley smiled at Tony. “Anyway. I should probably get ready for bed. Night, Mr Stark.” Tony left the room, leaving Harley to get himself ready for bed.

“Peter Whatever Parker! How could you leave me like that? I actually looked like an idiot in front of the most amazing people on the planet.” Harley whisper-yelled at Peter when they met up before school.  
“What? What happened?”  
“I got home yesterday after school, ready to chill out and watch a movie, and as I walked into the living room on our floor, I see The Avengers sitting around, eating snacks and talking. How could you leave me to deal with that on my own?”  
“They’re back. Yass. I have missed the proper training. Maybe Nat found a boyfriend. Did she have anyone with her?” Peter didn't seem to understand Harley's problem.  
“I don't know. I didn't get the chance to ask her because IT WAS THE AVENGERS.”  
“Okay, okay. Sorry. There isn’t really much I can do. I will be there tonight, though. I promise.” Peter smiled at Harley.

The bell rang and the two boys went to their classes.

After school, Harley went with Peter to pick up his stuff from the apartment. The two boys were waiting outside the apartment for Happy to pick them up. 

“What was your first reaction on meeting the Avengers?” Peter asked.

“I was shocked. I actually couldn't speak. But then The Scarlet Witch spoke up and introduced herself and that stopped me from fainting I guess. Then I spent the afternoon in my room.” Harley recounted the events of the previous night.

“The Scarlet Witch? You can call them by their proper names, you know.”

“Maybe you can but I don't know them. I don't want to be rude or anything.”

At that moment, Happy pulled up. The two boys jumped into the car. The ride to the tower was mostly quiet.

Peter raced out of the car and into the elevator as fast as he could. He had missed his family, The Avengers. Peter waited for Harley to get into the elevator before he pressed the button to go up. 

Harley seemed to be a bit nervous while they were in the elevator.

“Just chill, dude. I promise they won't hold your nervousness from yesterday against you.” Peter attempted to reassure his friend. 

“But they are just normal people and I freaked out,” Harley complained. 

“They understand. They know they are famous. You’ll be fine. I promise you won’t have to talk to them too much.”

The doors opened and The Avengers was sitting there again. Harley freaked out a little bit. Peter reached out and held his shoulder. 

“Just breath,” Peter whispered. 

“Is that Peter I can hear?” Peter smiled, hearing Nat’s voice.

“Hey, guys. I’m here.” Peter smiled at his second family. 

He went around and greeted everyone while Harley stood awkwardly in the entrance. 

“Where’d you guys all go?” Peter asked, settling in an empty seat.  
Harley slowly made his way to his bedroom. 

“Harley? Come join us.” Wanda offered.

“I’m alright. I… uh… have some stuff to do in my room. Sorry.” Harley left.

Peter gave him a look that asked if he was alright. Harley nodded slightly and went to his room. 

“Where did Mr Stark send you all?” 

“Vis and I went to England,” Wanda answered  
“Buck and I went to New Zealand,” Steve spoke up  
“Clint and I just spent the week with his family,” Natasha said  
“I spent the week visiting my old friends from before I was dragged into all this,” Bruce mumbled. 

“That sounds like so much fun. I was stuck at school.” Peter said enthusiastically.

“Do you know Harley?” Wanda asked.  
“Yeah. He lives here or something now. I think that’s why Mr Stark sent you guys away. He wanted Harley to move in here without you guys around.”  
“Makes sense. Is he usually this quiet and stuff?”  
“No. He’s just a bit scared of you guys. He is embarrassed about how he acted yesterday and thinks you guys will hold that against him or something.”  
“Awe. No. We would never do that.”  
“We have family dinner night in a few nights so maybe you can tell him then or something?” Peter offered. 

After more catching up, Peter went to see if Harley was alright.

“Hey, Harley. It’s Peter.”  
“Come in.” Peter pushed the door open.  
“You alright?”  
“Yeah. I just didn’t feel like socialising.”  
“Why not?”  
“I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with me completely embarrassing myself in front of the world mightiest heroes.” Harley said sarcastically.  
“They aren’t heroes. They are just really nice people. Well, some of them are nice. Actually, only Mr Banner and Mr Thor are nice,” Peter joked. “But they wouldn’t hurt you or intentionally do anything to make you uncomfortable. They are some of the best people I know.” Tony, who was standing outside the bedroom door, smiled. He hadn’t realised how Peter felt about the Avengers. 

“Knock knock.” Tony entered the bedroom. The boys looked up.  
“There’s dinner in the kitchen. You boys can bring it in here and eat if you would prefer. Just don’t tell Pepper.” Tony left the boys and headed back down to his lab. 

Peter and Harley ate their food together on the floor of Harley’s bedroom. They had some music playing and were talking about school and themselves. It was a small moment of normal in Peter Parker’s and Harley Keener’s lives.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter swung to Queens, ready to start an hour or two of patrol. He darted around the city, scanning for anything.  
“Got anything for me, Karen?”  
“Not at the moment, Peter.”  
“Alright. How has your day been, Karen?”  
“My day has been predictably boring, Peter. How was your day?”  
“My day was alright. Flash was teasing me again but that’s nothing new. Think I might be going to Neds soon. Was thinking about getting a job so I can help May a bit.” Peter vented to his A.I.  
“Peter. There is suspicious activity a few blocks west.” Karen said.  
Peter jumped up from his spot on the top of a random building. He leapt to the next building then the next.  
“Other way, Peter,” Karen said almost smugly.  
“Right.” Peter turned around and headed in the right direction.  
Peter followed the suspicious man down a small alleyway then out onto a deserted street. The man turned a few corners, getting Peter lost.  
The man soon found his destination. A dead-end alleyway with a small girl hiding in it.  
“Thought I told you to stay in your room.” The man snarled  
“I’m sorry. I thought I heard a monster in my closet and I got scared.” The young girl was almost pleading with the man.  
“You know what happens when you don't listen to me,” he warned.  
“Please. Don’t. I’m sorry. I thought the monster was there.” She was screaming in fear.  
The man pushed her roughly against the wall. He approached her with his fist raised, ready to punch her.  
“No!” Peter yelled. He webbed the man's hand to the wall beside him. With the man's hand out of use, he started kicking the young girl. Peter jumped down to the ground and webbed the man completely to the wall. The little girl was curled up tightly in the corner, shaking.  
Making sure the man couldn't break free, Peter slowly approached the little girl.  
“Hey. I’m Spiderman. What’s your name?” Peter asked quietly.  
“Lucy,” she whispered.  
“Can I hug you?” Peter asked tentatively  
She nodded slightly in response. Peter approached her slowly. When he was near enough that she could see him properly in the low light, he opened his arms, inviting her in. She slowly moved away from the wall and towards Peter. She hugged him tightly. Peter held her just as tightly.

Peter stayed with the girl for almost an hour. She was now half asleep as Peter carried her back out to the main street.  
“Where do you live, Hun?” Peter asked her.  
“I can’t go there. He will get me. Please don’t take me home.” Lucy started panicking  
“I won’t. Do you want to come home with me? We can watch some movies if you want to.” She nodded. Peter carried her home.

When Peter got back to his apartment with the small girl, he set up an old movie he found in the storage cupboard. Peter sat down with Lucy on the couch and started the movie.

Lucy fell asleep before the main plot of the movie had even started. Peter laid her down on the couch and turned the movie down.

“Peter. There is some dangerous activity going on a few streets away. I suggest you leave a note for your Aunt and put a soft blanket over Lucy.”  
Peter followed Karen’s suggestions then headed to where Karen directed him.

There was a group of strong-looking men following some smaller men. The smaller men appeared to be running away.

Peter webbed up the men at the back of the group silently. The two men at the front of the group quickly noticed they were the only ones still running. They turned around. Peter was standing in the middle of the alleyway. The men pulled out knives and started running at Peter. Peter jumped up to the side of the building. He webbed one of the men to the wall.

“Get down here you dick!” the one left standing yelled out to Peter.

Peter jumped down to the ground in front of the man with the knife. Peter fought the man and avoided the knife whenever possible.

“Ahh! Ouch.” Peter screamed in pain. One of the men had broken free of his webbing and attacked him from behind.

“You seem to have obtained a stab wound in your left shoulder.” Karen’s voice sounded in Peters' ear.

Peter whipped around and webbed the man to the wall, making sure he can’t break free again. Then Peter webbed the other man to the wall.

“Contact the police. Make them aware of the location and how many people there are.” Peter said to Karen. “Can you guys stay here to talk to the police? You can wait out on the street if you prefer.” Peter said to the two men who had watched the fight from a distance.

Peter then swung towards Stark Tower, knowing he would need medical attention.

Peter could see the tower. It was right in front of him. It may have been a bit blurry but Peter knew it was Stark Tower.

Peter shot out a web towards the building on his right. He released his left hand and moved it to shoot out to the building. He aimed and shot, but missed. He could feel himself falling. He shot out from his right hand at the building and missed in his panic. He hit the ground. Hard. Peter slowly got up from where he landed and looked around, trying to work out where he was.

Recognising that he was only a couple of streets away from his location, Peter decided to walk to avoid falling again.

He made it to the tower. He couldn’t see straight but he could see just enough to get to the tower. He walked through the open door and was instantly on the floor. He couldn’t move any further.

“Peter?”

He wasn't sure who it was or where they were but that was all Peter heard before he passed out.

***

Harley rushed down to the med-floor as soon as Tony told him where Peter was. He crashed into Thor and Bucky in the elevator.  
“Slow, young one. Where are you rushing to?” Thor held Harley by the shoulders.  
“Med-floor. Peter. Hurt.” Harley puffed.  
The two grown men joined Harley on his way to the med-floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Harley was running again. Thor and Bucky walked quickly to keep up. Harley crashed into Dr Banner who was blocking the entrance to the room Peter was in.  
“I’m sorry, Harley. I can’t let you in.” Bruce said sympathetically.  
“Please, Mr Banner. I just want to see him,” Harley begged.  
“No. He is unconscious and badly bruised. I can’t let anyone in. Sorry. “  
Harley sank to the floor. Leaning against the door.

A few hours later, Harley was still sitting next to the door. Tony walked down the hallway and sat next to him.  
“Hey, Kiddo. You missed dinner. It’s bedtime.” Harley sat there, not physically acknowledging Tony.  
“You have to go to bed,” Tony said. Harley curled into Tony’s side and rested his head on Tony’s shoulder. He was asleep in minutes. Tony tried to lift the small boy but that woke him up. They sat there all night, half asleep.

***

Dr Banner woke Tony and Harley up at 7:30 AM. Harley woke up immediately and was on his feet.  
“Can I see him?” Harley almost yelled. Dr Banner had barely nodded when Harley pushed open the door and was at Peters side.  
“Hey, Buddy. You good?”  
“Not really. Everything hurts.” Peter chuckled.  
“Can I hug you?” Harley mumbled.  
“Yeah. Careful though.” Peter smiled at Harley.  
Harley slowly leant over gave Peter a light hug. Peter hugged Harley tightly.  
“Not too tight, boys. Peter is still healing.” Dr Banner said, walking in with Tony. Harley pulled away, looking at Peter concerned. Peter smiled weakly.  
“When can I leave, Mr Dr Banner?” Peter asked.  
“Just a couple more checks then you’re free to go.” Dr Banner smiled at Peter. “But you will be taking a few days off work, Peter. And rest whenever you can.” Tony said sternly. Peter rolled his eyes.  
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”  
Harley and Tony were pushed out of the med-room while Dr Banner finished off making sure Peter was fine.  
Peter was released half an hour later with just a few scratches left. Tony declared Movie Day as soon as Peter excited the med-room.

“I can’t. Sorry, Mr Stark. I left a little girl at my Aunt’s apartment last night. I have to make sure she’s okay.”  
“So that’s what May was ringing for? I couldn’t work out what she was saying. Especially after I said you couldn't make it to the phone.”  
“Is the girl alright, though?”  
“May said she had taken the girl to the hospital. I’m sure May can look after her for a while. May managed to raise you, didn’t she?” Tony joked.  
“I guess,” Peter said.

The three of them moved up to the living room and curled together on the couch, Tony being very aware that Peter was anxious and still slightly injured.

***

After three Star Wars movies, Harley and Peter were both asleep curled into Tony’s sides. Tony was almost asleep. Pepper entered the living to see where her family was. She smiled at her boys cuddled together. She grabbed a blanket off the back of a nearby seat and spread it over the cuddle party. She left them to sleep as she went to bed.

***

Peter woke with a start. After looking around the room and working out where he was, he decided to get up.

Peter went to the kitchen and saw a note on the bench.

_Boys,_   
_I have gone out with May and the little girl for the day. Please don’t destroy the tower completely. May and I will come up with ideas as to what we should do with the little girl. Love you all_   
_XXX_   
_Pepper_

Peter smiled. He then moved to make some food for himself.

After breakfast, Peter went out for patrol. Tony and Harley were still asleep when he left so he also left a note saying where he was, hoping Tony saw it and not Harley.

Peter swung down to Queens.

“Peter. Incoming message from Tony Stark.”  
A message appeared on the screen.  
If you aren’t back here in 15 minutes, I will come and get you. You were told no work for a few days.”  
Peter sighed but headed towards the tower anyway.

Tony and Harley were both up when Peter got back.

Peter got a lecture from Tony about personal safety and Doctors orders. Harley sat on the other side of the living room while Tony was lecturing Peter, laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey. Peter. Boys night this weekend?” Ned asked, bumping shoulders with Peter as he caught up in the school hallway.  
“You still got that lego set?” Peter asked in response.  
“Of course, dude. I said I would wait for you to start it.”  
“Alright. Sounds fun. I’ll ask May later.”  
“Would Harley want to come, too?”  
“Come where?” Harley appeared on Peters other side.  
“Boys night at my place.”  
“Yea. Sure.”  
“Cool. I’ll let my mum know. We will have to look after my sisters though.”  
“That’s alright. I should be allowed to come.” 

The three of them headed to their classes. 

***

The weekend came faster than expected. Peter and Harley met up and went to Ned’s at about 1 PM. They had to look after the younger girls for a few hours but then they were going out for pizza. Peter and Ned would usually sit on a high building and chill out but Harley still didn’t know about Spiderman so that was out. Instead, the three young boys went to the park and sat in amongst the trees, hidden from plain sight but not hiding. 

They were laughing, making jokes, being teenagers. They had almost finished their food when Ned asked a slightly personal question.  
“Why did you move to Stark Tower?”  
Harley hesitated slightly, took a deep breath, then answered as best he could.  
“Quite a few years ago, when everyone thought Mr Stark was dead after his house was attacked, He crash-landed just outside of Rose Hill, which is where I used to live. The Iron Man suit had died and was broken. He dragged it into my garage. Basically broke into my garage. I didn’t tell my mum he was there though. Anyway. I helped him fix the suit and I also helped him through a couple of anxiety attacks that I had triggered. Anyway. He heard about my mum passing away recently and asked if I wanted to move in with him now that I didn't have mum around. I agreed. The day before I was supposed to move in, one of my friends was involved in a car accident, ending up in the hospital. I had stayed in Rose Hill to support our other friends and his family. When he was stable, I moved to Stark Tower.” Harley said. He seemed to be on the verge of crying as he finished the story. Peter moved to hug him and Harley accepted the hug. 

They went back to Ned's house and set up a movie. Ned set up his lego into the piles they needed and they got started.  
Three hours later they were almost done. They had continued to ask each other random questions and joke around with each other. 

Harley was the first to fall asleep at about 1:30 AM. Ned was asleep not long after that. Peter was still awake for a few hours. He finished the Lego set and then spent an hour or two scrolling through his phone. 

Peter fell asleep at about 4 AM. 

***

Peter was the first to wake at about 9 AM. Harley was awake within minutes of Peter. 

“Morning,” Harley mumbled  
“Hey. How’d you sleep?”  
“Mmm.” Harley moaned. Peter chuckled at his friends suffering.

Ned woke up a while after the other two. The three of them stayed on the floor in Ned’s room, slowly waking themselves up. It was about 12 PM before any of them got up. Peter went out to the kitchen to make them some food. After eating, Harley and Peter had to get back to the Tower. 

The two guests were picked up by Happy at 1:30 PM outside Ned's home. They were back at Stark Tower by 2 PM. 

Peter had enough time to get changed, have some more food and unpack his things before he had training. 

***

Peter went to his room to get changed into some activewear. Harley, who had thrown himself on the couch as soon as they got home, watched him walk through the lounge, confused.

“Are we supposed to go to the gym or something?” Harley asked, half-joking.  
“Nah. Just a personal choice. You don’t have to.”  
“You have complained for the last two weeks about having to do PE at school and now you’re telling me that you willingly go to the gym while you’re here? You are insane.” Harley joked.  
“Yeah. I’m insane. Absolutely crazy for being fit.” Peter smiled at Harley before heading to the elevator. 

Peter entered the gym to see everyone else already there. Peter walked over to where Natasha and Bucky were sparring, ready for one of them to start attacking him. 

Peter did some practice with Natasha, then some weight lifting with Steve, then some cardio with Tony and Bucky. That took up almost two hours. 

Then it was time for family dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

Family dinner had lasted longer than usual with it being Harley’s first dinner with The Avengers and The Avengers all being back from their holidays. Peter, having not slept nearly enough during the past few nights, was exhausted. 

The dinner was normal. Joking, insulting each other, telling stories. It was familiar. It was comforting. 

Peter swung to his Aunt's apartment, dropped his stuff off, then went out on his patrol. 

He returned to the apartment to find a hot plate of food on the table for him.

“Hey. How have the last few days been at the Tower?” Peter turned around. Aunt May was now sitting up on the couch. She had been laying down.

“Yeah. It was alright. Spent the night at Ned's with Harley. Finally got to train with Nat again.” Peter smiled at his aunt.

“Does Harley know yet?” Peter slowed down scoffing his food. 

“Not yet. It’s not like I can bring that up in conversation though. ‘Hey, Harley. How have you been? Oh, by the way, I don't think I’ve told you yet but I’m Spider-Man.’ Maybe sometime soon though. I promise.” Peter responded.   
May smiled at her nephew  
“I’m heading to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”  
“Just before you go to bed, what happened to Lucy?”  
“Oh. Uhm. Pepper said she would take care of everything so I don’t know.”  
“Alright. Love you. Night.” 

Peter sat in the now quiet apartment, slowly eating his food. How would he tell Harley? Should he ask Mr Stark first? Should he just come out to the world?

Peter moved into his room once he had finished eating and cleaning up the apartment a bit. He thought about how he might tell Harley. Should he bring it up in casual conversation? Wait for the possibility of Harley being in trouble, saving him, then revealing who he is? Should he sneak to the Tower now? Should he wait till Thursday night when he goes back to the tower? 

That was the third night in a row Peter didn’t sleep properly.

Peter woke the next morning, slightly foggy and definitely sleep deprived. He forced himself out of bed anyway and slowly got himself ready for school. He woke May and made her a coffee. He made sure there was food for dinner that night before rushing to school. 

Peter almost fell asleep during every class that day. Multiple times, Harley or Ned had nudged him in class for sleeping. 

***

May had that evening off work so she and Peter had a small movie night. Peter fell asleep on the couch during the movie, May falling asleep not long after him.

They both woke up in pain from sleeping in awkward positions. 

Peter suffered another day of Harley and Ned nudging him in every class. He fell asleep on Harley in the library during a lunch break but that wasn’t long enough to keep him awake for the last two periods.

When Peter got back home, he attempted to take a nap but his pile of unfinished homework forced him to stay awake. Without realising it, Peter had forced himself through 2 hours of homework and he had only answered 8 questions on 1 worksheet. 

He ditched the homework and made him and May dinner. Some of it was burnt as Peter might have fallen asleep while standing up a couple of times. Him and May still ate their food. 

Peter, despite being exhausted, went out on patrol. That was a bad idea.

It was a quiet night. Or Karen knew Peter was exhausted and only gave him a few cases. 

“Peter. A man following a female down an alley. Next building over to your left.” Karen's voice woke Peter.

“Thanks, Karen.” Peter jumped into action. He approached the man as quietly as he could. From what Peter could hear, the man had offered the woman a ride home and she had refused so now he was going to beat her. 

Peter webbed the guy to the wall and went over to make sure the woman was okay. He had hit her a couple of times already. 

“Karen. Contact the police. Let them know th- Ahh.” Peter was cut off giving his instructions. The man had gotten free from Peters lazy webbing. He had punched Peter in the back of the neck. Peter was too tired to fight back. 

Peter was soon curled up on the hard concrete, the man towering over him. Karen, realising what was happening, had already contacted police. Peter could hear the approaching cars. Peter felt the man's foot find his back once again and silently prayed the cars would arrive sooner. 

The police cars arrived and the officers cuffed the man. One officer approached Peter.

“Sir? Is there anyone I can contact to come to pick you up? You are in no state to drive or walk.”

“Could I get a ride home?” Peter asked quietly.

“That can be arranged, Sir.” The officer moved to help Peter get to one of the cars.

“I am going to try and help you stand. I am first going to place one hand on your shoulder and one hand on your knee to lay you out a bit.” the officer explained to the half-conscious vigilante.

The officer did exactly as he said he would. The officer continued to explain what he would do before doing it. 

“I need you to try and stand up now. There are no serious injuries to worry about.“ Peter attempted to move into a standing position. The officer moved in to help him. Peter was slowly directed towards one of the two cars sitting on the road. He climbed into the back seat.

“Where can I take you?” 

“Stark Tower, please,” Peter whispered as loudly as he could. 

The officer drove him as close as he could to the front door of Stark Tower. Peter fell out of the car when he managed to get the door open. The officer rushed around the car to help him to the door. As soon as Peter was at the door of the Tower, Tony rushed in and lifted Peter off his feet. 

“Thank you, officer. I’ll make sure he gets treated properly.” Tony was saying as he was rushing away to the med-floor. 

Peter was out before Tony even made it back to the elevator.

“No. Come on. Just stay awake for a few more minutes. You need to tell me what happened,” Tony said as he tried to wake the sleeping boy.

Peter kept his eyes closed but started talking. “Man was going to hit her. I didn’t web him up properly and he broke free. Then he attacked me. At least this one didn’t have a knife. 

“Why wasn’t he webbed properly? Was the woman injured or something?”

“Tired. Lazy webbing.” Peter explained weakly.

“Come on. Stay awake for me. We’re almost there. You can sleep soon. I promise.” They were now heading towards Dr Banners med-room. Tony kicked open the door and ran in, placing Peter on the bed.

“I believed he just got beat up by some guy but he is quite sleep-deprived,” Tony informed Bruce of the situation. Tony then moved to the seat in the corner and watched in a state of panic as his son laid almost completely still on the medical bed.

“Tony. I know I asked you this last time but I need to ask again. Are you okay with me removing the suit, or would you like to?” Bruce snapped Tony out of his panicked state.

Without a word, Tony stood from the seat he was in and moved over to Peter. He fiddled around with the watch on Peter’s wrist and the suit retracted, leaving a shirtless Peter laying on the bed. 

Bruce found a spare shirt in a chest of drawers in the next room over and carefully put it on the boy.

“I don’t think his healing will work properly until he has gotten enough sleep. Do you know why he might be sleep-deprived?”

“I know he had a couple of late nights recently. I didn’t think it would affect him this much and I thought he was still getting enough sleep.” 

Bruce just nodded and started typing away at a computer. Tony sat back in the same seat as before and watched Peter carefully.

***

Peter woke 20 hours later. He was a bit sore and still had a couple of bruises but he was okay. 

Bruce called Tony down to the Med-room, keeping his promise of letting Tony know when Peter woke up. 

Harley came down with Tony. As soon as Peter saw Tony and Harley, he shrunk away. He knew he shouldn’t have gone out on patrol. Tony never would have let him out in the state he was in. But Queens needs him, no matter what,

“Why on earth did you go out on patrol if you were so sleep-deprived? You should have stayed home, gone to sleep. What were you thinking?” Tony asked.

“Crime won’t stop just because I’m a little tired.” Peter attempted.

“A little tired? You were falling asleep in my arms when you turned up here last night. That is exhausted, not “a little tired”.” 

“I’m sorry, okay. I thought I would be fine. If I didn’t have so many thoughts, then maybe I could sleep every so often.”

Harley was standing off to the side, confused. Patrol? Was he a volunteer for the police or something? He would have told him, right?

“If this happens again, I’m taking the suit away from you and you can spend patrol hours catching up on school work and sleep.” Tony threatened. 

“Fine. If you catch this happening again. Who’s to say I won't just spend more time at Aunt May’s so you don’t notice?” Peter countered.

“I’ll talk to May.” 

“Can I leave, Mr Dr Banner?” Petter ended the discussion.

“Yep. Just please don’t go out on patrol for a few nights at least. And get some sleep. No Patrol until Sunday morning at the earliest. And Tony,” Tony looked at Bruce, “Please make sure he gets enough sleep.” Tony nodded at the doctor. 

“Hey. Are you a police volunteer or something?” Harley whispered in Peters' ear as they entered the elevator. 

“What do you mean?”   
“Patrol? Suit? That sounds like police talk.”  
“Oh. Yeah. Something like that.” Peter trailed off.  
Harley didn’t question what Peter meant. The three of them rode the elevator in silence. When they reached the private floor and all stepped out. 

“Peter. Off to bed, please.”  
“But Mr Stark. It’s not even my bedtime.”   
“I don’t care. You need to go to bed.”   
Peter stomped off to his room.

“Mr Stark. Can I ask you something?”  
“You just did.”  
“What does Peter do?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“He goes out every night even though we have school and you were just telling him off for going out on patrol. Is he a police officer or something?”  
“You would have to talk to Peter about that. It isn’t my place to say. But if you do ask him, let him know I said it’s completely fine.”  
“Okay.” 

Harley rushed off to where Tony assumed was his room. 

Really, Harley had rushed to Peter’s room.

“Hey, Peter. Can I ask you something?”   
“I guess.”  
“What do you do? Mr Stark said it was alright to tell me.”   
“Uhh. Well. How about we sit down on the bed. It’ll probably be easier to tell you that way.”  
“What’s wrong? Are you dying? Is Mr Stark dying? Is Mr Stark running out of money?”  
“No. Nothing like that.”  
“Then what is it?”  
“Uhh. Well, you see, I have a secret. Only a few people actually know.”  
“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay.”  
“I do want to tell you. It’s just really hard.”  
“Spill.”  
“It will be easier to show you.”  
Peter fiddled around with the watch on his wrist. His suit quickly encased him. He watched Harley’s face. 

Harley was shocked. He hadn’t even considered that Peter was Spider-Man. Not that he didn’t think Peter was capable of that. 

After thinking about it a little bit, it made more sense to Harley. Spider-Man was never out during school time. The hours that Peter seemed to be focusing really hard on his homework each night, Spider-Man was out. (Harley had quickly worked out Peter was lying about homework every night as they had a lot of the same classes and Harley never had homework) and Peter gets special training with The Avengers once a week. Surely Tony wouldn’t let a normal intern train with the world’s mightiest heroes.

Once all this had passed through Harley’s head, Peter had removed the suit and was now sitting on the bed next to Harley.

“You can’t tell anyone. Because I’m still underage, Mr Stark and Miss Pepper don’t want me coming out to the world.”

“Coming out as Spider-Man or as Bisexual?” Harley joked

“Either,” Peter responded. Harley stopped laughing.  
“Really? Are you actually?”   
“I thought you were asking because you already knew,” Peter said defensively.  
“I was kidding. I didn’t think you actually were. Any other secrets you haven’t told me?”   
“Not that I can think of at the moment.”   
Harley smiled at Peter.  
“You got any secrets in exchange or is this a charity?” Peter joked  
“Uhh. Well. I don't have anything as big as being Spider-Man but I am Bi as well. And Asexual.”  
“Wow. This is amazing. I wonder how many other people here are Bi. Like some of The Avengers or something. That would be so cool.” Peter was now bouncing in excitement where he sat.   
“We could ask them. Not now, though. You have to go to sleep.” Harley smiled at Peter before leaving the room. 

Peter climbed into bed after getting changed and ready for bed. He fell asleep almost instantly. 

Harley had rushed back out to the kitchen where Tony was still standing.

“Wow. That’s so cool. How did I not know?”   
“Everyone who knows has sworn to let only Peter decide who to tell and if us of us let slip who Spider-Man is, there are dire consequences.”  
“Okay. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was Friday afternoon. Happy was on holiday. Pepper and Tony were in important meetings and couldn’t be disturbed. Rhodey was a few states away. May was working. That was everyone who Peter would usually contact. So. Instead of trying to get a taxi or calling one of the Avengers whos numbers he had stolen from Tony, Peter decided to help Harley walk to the apartment. It took longer than usual as Harley was injured and Peter didn’t want to hurt him too much. Once at the apartment, Peter bandaged Harley up as much as he could. 

Peters phone ringing filled the silence in the apartment as the boys chilled on the couch. He rushed to grab it. Seeing it was Tony, he answered.  
“Hey, Mr Stark.”  
“Where the hell are you kids? You are supposed to be here at the tower.”  
“Harley got hurt and so I had to get him to the apartment so I could make sure he was okay then we haven’t moved since because I don’t want to hurt him too much,” Peter said defensively  
“I’ll come and get you two. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” Tony hung up.  
Peter threw his phone gently onto the empty spot on the couch and threw himself into the cushions.  
“I’m fine to have caught the bus, Peter. You didn’t have to bring me here. Especially if it made Mr Stark angry at us.”  
“I know. But I had to make sure you were alright and then it would take a lot of pain for you to get back down the stairs and my webs wouldn't be enough to properly keep you pain-free while on the bus.”  
“I’m fine. It's just a few bruises and a sore ankle.”  
“See. Injured. You can't catch a bus and walk to the tower like that.” Peter said.  
Harley dropped the conversation, knowing there was no point arguing with Peter. 

***

Tony knocked on the door a while later. Peter got up to answer the door and was greeted by a slightly worried looking Tony.  
“How did Harley get hurt? Are you okay? Who do I have to kill?” Tony said.  
“Hey, Mr Stark. We are fine. No killing.” Peter said, avoiding the first question.  
“Car is downstairs. Grab anything from here if you need anything and let’s go.”  
Tony walked over to the couch and helped Harley stand and supported him as they walked across the apartment. Peter wrote a quick note to Aunt May about why there were missing first aid supplies and left it where she would find it. He closed and locked the apartment and caught up to Tony and Harley who were slowly making their way down the stairs.  
“Mr Stark, I am fine. I don’t need your help.” Harley was saying.  
“Whatever, kid. And I still need to know how you got hurt.”  
“Yeah. I’ll tell you later. Best to tell the story once to a crowd than a million times to everyone.” Harley said.  
They continued down the stairs in silence. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tony allowed Harley to walk on his own.  
Once they were all in the car, Tony began asking questions.  
“I know you said you didn't want to repeat yourself but what happened?”  
“Eugene Thompson happened.”  
“Isn't that the kid that picks on you, Peter?” Tony asked  
“Yeah. He seemed to be having a bit of a bad day and took it out on Harley though. I tried to stop him but I couldn't use my super strength or anything. So I was kinda useless.” Peter said.  
“You weren't useless. If you hadn't stepped in, I would probably be in worse shape.” Harley butted in.  
“So a privileged little kid who bullies one of my boys then goes and beats up the other one? His life is as good as over.” Tony seethes.  
“No. Please. He doesn’t deserve that. He was just having a bad day today.” Peter tried to defend.  
“He beat up Harley. How does he not deserve it?”  
“Can we drop this? The idiot doesn't deserve his life to be ruined by you. He isn't innocent though,” Harley said loudly.  
The car went silent.

As soon as they reached the tower, Pepper hugged Harley tightly.  
“Are you boys okay? What happened? Did something happen at school? On the bus? I knew I should have cancelled the meeting so one of us could have picked you up.” Pepper helped Harley inside and he didn't tell her to stop. No one refuses Pepper. Annoyed Pepper is the worse Pepper. 

Harley explained what had happened during his fight with Flash. Turns out, Harley knows how to fight.  
“What caused the fight, though?” Pepper asked when Harley had finished.  
“Flash was about to start punching this other kid. He was tiny. Couldn’t fight back. I called from the small crowd to just leave the kid alone and walk away. He left the kid alone and came for me instead.” Harley said casually.  
“So you basically asked him to come and punch you. Why on earth would you do that? You know he is so much stronger than you are!” Peter yelled.  
“Better he punches me that the smaller kid. At least I was able to fight back a little.” Harley defended. Peter didn't say anything. 

***

A couple of hours later, Pepper had called dinner. The four of them were sitting around a small table, eating dinner.  
“What are we going to do about that kid at school?” Tony asked  
“Nothing,” Peter replied simply  
“We have to do something. He has tortured you for a couple of years now and has beat up Harley. He deserves some punishment.”  
“Karma can punish him.” Peter tried  
“Kids like him don't get punished by karma.”  
“Then he can go unpunished,” Harley spoke up.  
“Running to an adult will just make him worse. I can handle things how they are and if he beats up either one of us again, then we will tell you.” Peter said, hoping the conversation will end there. Tony sighs but doesn't say any more.

Peter finished his food and went to clean up before going out on patrol.  
“See you guys later. Promise.” Peter said.  
There was a chorus of “be safe” and “Be back in an hour or two” and “Laters” from the table as Peter walked out. 

“What can you do to Flash so that he pays for what he did but doesn't hurt Peter anymore?” Harley asked after dinner.  
“I could pay him off. Pay him to leave you boys alone.” Tony offered.  
“You can't use your money for everything, Mr Stark,” Harley whined  
“I could threaten him as iron man.”  
“That could work,” Harley said. “Only do it if he bullies Peter again though.” 

***

“Peter Parker is back in the building. He has not sustained any injuries since he was here last.” F.R.I.D.A.Y announced.  
“Where is he?” Harley asked.  
“Peter Parker is in his bedroom. Should I inform him you are looking for him?”  
“Nah. It’s alright. Thanks though, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”  
Harley made his way from his desk to Peter's room and knocked on the door.  
“Peter? It’s me. Can I come in?” Harley yelled. He pushed open the door when he heard a muffled “yeah” from inside.  
Peter was laying on his bed still in his Spider-Man suit, with a shirt over top.  
“How are the bruises healing?” Peter asked casually  
“I’m fine, Peter. How was patrol?”  
“Eh. Not too exciting tonight. A couple of muggings and a robbery or two. Nothing too big.”  
The boys sat in silence for a while, both thinking about different things. 

“I should probably head to bed. You should too.” Harley said, finally breaking the silence that had quickly grown awkward.  
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Night.” Peter moved to get changed and Harley left. 

***

Harley spent half the night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Peter had been able to treat most of the bruises but he didn’t need to know about the bruises that had formed on his ribs. 

Peter laid completely still on his bed, still lost in his thoughts. It was a few hours of just laying there, not sleeping, that Peter decided he would not sleep in the kitchen instead of his room. 

***

Harley, after managing to sleep for a while, woke up at F.R.I.D.A.Y’s alarm. He climbed out of bed and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast. He was surprised at the sight in front of him.


	7. Chapter 7

Harley walked into the kitchen to see a shirtless Peter sleeping on the bench while Pepper was making pancakes.

“Morning,” Harley mumbled as he sat down next to the sleeping, shirtless Peter. 

“Morning, Harley. How’d you sleep?” Pepper asked as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of him.

“I slept okay. Don’t think he did though.” Harley lightly elbowed Peter. 

Peter groaned in annoyance at the disturbance. Harley laughed slightly at his friend's antics. 

Harley covered his pancakes in syrup and cream and dug in. Peter followed suit once he finally sat upright. 

“Tony will be driving you boys to school today. You’re leaving in an hour. Make sure you’re ready please.”

“Of course, Miss Pepper,” Peter said with his mouthful. Pepper sighed at Peter while he just smiled innocently back at her. 

Harley and Peter ate the rest of their food in silence before both rushing off to get ready. It quickly became a silent competition of who would be ready first. Harley had finished getting dressed first as Peter took forever to decide on clothes but it took Harley ages to style his hair whereas Peter didn’t care much. They were both still following the rules of no running inside and being careful and no using powers (Peter!). They were now both walking really quickly towards the elevator, both aware that no matter who got there first, they would both go down together. 

Harley pulled Peter back by his shirt and sprinted out of the elevator. Peter rushed after him after regaining his balance. 

“Morning, Mr Stark,” Harley said, trying to keep a straight face.  
“Good Morning, Harley. Good morning, Peter,” Tony said to the boys at the door. “Let’s get on our way.”

The three of them climbed into the car that was parked outside the door and Tony started driving. 

Peter was clinging onto the handles on the door as soon as he got into the car. Harley very quickly worked out why. Tony had no regards for the road rules and no one dared call him out on it. He drove carefully but everyone knows what his car looks like so he just drives through red lights and way over the speed limit. Harley soon was mimicking Peters position of clinging onto the handles as if they would save them. 

They finally reached Midtown Tech and Harley launched himself out of the car. Tony also climbed out of the car and walked the boys into school. 

Everyone parted in the hallways as if royalty were walking down the corridor. Harley and Peter were hiding their faces as they followed Tony to the front office. Ned quickly joined them once he saw the two boys but he wasn’t hiding.

“Hey, Peter. Hey, Harley.” Ned said cheerfully.  
They both mumbled out an unintelligible greeting and continued to follow Tony, embarrassed. 

“Good morning, Mr Stark. How can I help you today?” The receptionist asked after looking up from the papers in front of her.   
“I have a problem. One of these boys who are under my care,” Tony wrapped one arm around Harley, “was beaten up by a student at this school while on school grounds and he did not deserve to be injured. The same student has been bullying Peter, here.” He placed his other arm around Peter’s shoulders. “I hope I don't have to take any further action for something to be done?”   
Both Peter and Harley went bright red.   
“I thought we asked him not to do anything?” Peter whispered to Harley.  
“I asked him to do something to Flash if he did anything else. I didn’t think he would come here and talk to the principal.” Harley whispered back.

“Mr Stark, May I ask who this student is that has apparently hurt these boys?”  
“Eugene Thompson. And if nothing changes soon, I will be talking to the boy's parents.”   
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary. I will sort it out as best I can.” She started writing notes on a piece of paper.  
“These boys won’t be in school until I am sure you have done something to stop this behaviour.” 

Tony turned and left, Peter and Harley quickly following.

“Mr Stark. I asked you not to do anything unless he did anything more to Peter.”   
Tony didn’t say anything. He just continued to walk back to where the car was. Outside the front door of the school was Flash.

“Need your pretend daddy to come and save you, Parker? Can’t your real daddy come? Oh no. I’m sorry. He’s dead, isn’t he?” Flash called out sarcastically.

“You leave these boys alone right now or I promise you will not be going anywhere after you graduate this school.” Tony stormed up to the boy and growled at him.

“Is that a threat, Mr substitute?”   
“Yes. But I have a habit of following through with my threats so back off.”

Tony walked back to the car and quickly jumped into the driver's seat. Peter and Harley climbed into the back seat and Harley, having learnt his lesson, grabbed the door handles and waited for Tony to drive off.

They reached the Tower again and Pepper appeared to be waiting for them.

“Did you sort it out?”  
“Yep. If nothing changes, though, then that kid will not have any future.” 

Tony walked towards the elevator, the two boys following him.

“What are we going to do if we aren’t going to school?”  
“Well. That’s up to you boys. The Avengers are watching a movie on the social floor. I finally put a TV in there to keep them out of our lounge. You could join me in the lab. You could do homework. You could ask Ned for the work you’re missing. It’s up to you boys.” 

“I’m going to watch the movie for a bit.” Peter declared.  
“Could I join you in the lab, Mr Stark?”   
“Of course. I could get you to help me with a couple of things actually.”

Peter quickly joined The Avengers in the lounge to watch the movie while Harley and Tony went to the labs.

“How would you feel about a lab for just you and Peter which you can decorate however you want?” Tony asked once they reached the lab-floor.  
“Really? You would do that for us? That would be so cool.”   
“I have a room set aside for you two.” He looked at Harley, slightly unsure. Seeing no emotions on the boy's face, Tony hurriedly kept talking. “Only if you want it. You don't have to take it. It’s up to you and Peter.” At that moment, Harley saw a part of Tony he hadn't noticed before. An insecure, unsure man. One who had been told no too many times, someone real.  
And in a moment, it was gone.

“Come,” Tony said simply  
Harley followed Tony down a hallway and into a room. It looked similar to a school science lab but bigger. 

Harley looked around the room. It had everything that they would need. Benches, working stations, display oven, sinks, hand-washing stations, a row of refrigerators, stacks of trays. Harley loved it.

“Thank you so much, Mr Stark. This is amazing. You didn’t have to do this for us.”   
“I wanted to. I don't want you boys destroying my lab so you can destroy your own one instead. There are a bunch of tools and equipment in the room two doors down if you want some of that. You boys can go shopping later for some stuff if you need to as well.”  
“Wow. Peter is going to love this.”  
“Speaking of Peter. That door there,” Tony pointed to the door on the other side of the room, “leads to a room where Peter can practice his Spider-Man stuff and there is a couch in there, too.” Tony said. Harley rushed over to the door and pulled it open, revealing a room with a couch in one corner and platforms all over the walls for Peter to swing to.  
“This is amazing,” Harley whispered.  
“We’ll leave Peter to finish watching the movie with the others then you can show him this.” Tony smiled at Harley.  
“I’ll be in my lab. You can do whatever you want.”  
“Can I still come and join you? Like, Just sit and look around your lab? I haven’t been in your lab before.”   
“Sure, kid. I’m working on updates for Dum-E if you want to help.”   
Harley followed Tony into the lab. There was an old, ripped couch in one corner, machines everywhere, a display of old Iron Man suits and random tools laying on different workbenches.   
Tony walked over to the messiest bench and sat on a stool. Harley slowly walked over to where Tony had started working.

“I’m trying to build another version of Dum-E. I need another one just to help out because that one seems to be getting old.” Tony explained. “Here’s the basic plans.”

Harley looked over the plans.

Once he understood them, he helped Tony build his robot. Without realising it, they had worked for three and a half hours. Peter had come down to the lab with food then quickly vanished back up to the main floor.


	8. Chapter 8

A few hours later, at about 4 PM, The Avengers was playing video games while Peter did some homework. 

Harley, having finished helping Tony with the robot, went looking for Peter. 

“Hey, weirdo.” Harley sat next to Peter on the floor.  
“Hey, dumbass.” Peter smiled at his new company.  
“What you doing?”  
“Homework. Ned emailed me the homework from the morning classes so I’m catching up on that.”  
“You wanna do that in our lab? It might be quieter.”  
“Our what?”  
“Haha. Let’s go see Mr Stark. I think he’s still in the labs.” Harley quickly got up from his spot on the floor. He stuck his hand out to help Peter up. Peter took the offered hand and followed Harley down to the labs.  
“Hey, Mr Stark. Is our lab open?”  
“Always will be unless you guys lock it,” Tony called out from behind a robot.  
“Okay. I’m showing Peter the lab. You wanna come?”  
“Hold up a sec, Kiddo. Just gotta finish this.” Tony finished fixing whatever he was fixing, wiped his hands on his once white t-shirt and then joined the boys at the door of the lab.  
“You’ll want to see this, Peter,” Tony whispered excitedly.  
“What’s going on?” Peter asked, confused.  
Harley smiled at him and then dragged him by the wrist to the next door down the long hallway.  
“Open it.” Harley smiled at Tony behind Peter’s back.  
Peter pushed open the door slowly. He hesitantly stepped into the lab, looking around.   
“It’s just a basic lab. What’s so special about it?”   
“It’s ours. We can have this space.” Harley explained excitedly.   
“Woah. Are you serious? This is ours?” Tony nodded at Peter. “This is so cool, Mr Stark. Thank you so much.”

Peter and Harley spent the next couple of hours collecting tools from the spare room and planning how they would decorate their new lab space. 

“Bedtime, Peter and Harley.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice echoed through the Lab.   
They slowly packed up their mess and made their way up to the main floor where their rooms were.

“Ah. There you two are. You want dinner?”   
“It’s bedtime, isn’t it?”   
“It’s the weekend. You can stay up. I just asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to say it was bedtime to get you two up here. Did it work?”  
“Yeah. It worked.”  
“Dinner is in the kitchen for both of you. Come eat it out here and I’ll put a movie on.”  
“Where are the others?”  
“What others?”  
“Miss Pepper and Mr Rogers and everyone?”  
“Uhh. I think they went out for dinner. They should be back soon though.”  
“Okay. Cool.” Peter left to get his and Harley’s dinner. He came back out and settled on the couch next to Tony, Harley sitting on Tony’s other side. 

Half-way through the movie, the elevator doors opened. Steve led The Avengers in quietly, them all spreading themselves out around the room. Natasha sat next to the almost asleep Peter, Wanda sitting by Harley. 

The movie finished soon after. Peter was now wide awake again.

“Hey, Peter,” Natasha greeted now the movie was finished.  
“Hey, Auntie Nat. Hello everyone else.”   
There was a mumble of different greetings from the people sitting around the room.

“Off to bed, boys,” Tony announced.  
“Why, Mr Stark? It’s the weekend.” Peter and Harley started to complain.   
“I already let you two stay up late. Time for bed.”  
“Come on, ребенок паук(Baby Spider). Bed.” Natasha demanded softly.   
Peter and Harley dramatically dragged themselves off the couch and slowly made their way to bed.  
There was a chorus of good nights and sleep tights from the group of adults behind them as they left for bed. 

“Tony. Why do you now have two children?” Steve asked, filling the silence left in the room.   
“I don’t. I am the legal guardian of one of them, but I’m not a parent.” Tony defended.  
“Sure, приемный отец(Foster Father).” Bucky piped up. Natasha giggled and whispered to Wanda.  
“What does that mean? Bucky. You better tell me what that means right now.”   
Bucky sat and watched as Tony walked towards him, trying to be scary.  
“You aren’t scary, приемный отец.” Bucky smiled at Tony before running to the elevator before Tony could attack him.

_____

Peter and Harley were up early the next morning, both grabbing a quick breakfast before racing down to their lab.   
Peter pulled out some paper and within minutes, both boys were leaning over the paper, writing and drawing different ideas.  
Once they had decided on the perfect design, they went hunting for Tony.

Tony was sitting in the common floor, watching the news, alongside Steve, Bucky and James.

“Hey, Uncle Rhodes. It’s been ages.” Peter greeted.  
“Hey, little one. How’s it been?”   
“Good. I came here to ask for something.”  
“Yeah. Uhh. Mr Stark. Could we go shopping? We need some stuff for the lab.” Harley butted in.  
“Depends. What do you need and where do you want to get it from.”  
“Could you look at our plans, first? We could go over it all and write a list of things we need.”  
“Bring the plans up here so we can go over it. I’m not going down there.”  
Harley handed the plans he had brought with him to Tony.

After going over the plans, Peter and Harley went down to Tony’s storage room to see what they could find there instead of going out.   
They found everything they needed and got to work.

After a few hours of building, the boys decided to take a break. Noticing it was now about 4 PM, they had lunch. 

After they had eaten, they got back to work. Tony came down a couple of hours later to call them for dinner. 

“So. Peter. You have patrol in the morning and training tomorrow then you’re going to your Aunts. I want you to be careful on patrol for the week. We don't want you here early again.” Tony said at the dinner table.

“Yes, Mr Stark.”  
“приемный отец.” Natasha whispered loudly.  
“Stop that,” Tony warned.

“What does that mean, Auntie Nat?”  
“I’ll tell you later, ребенок паук.” Peter smiled at Natasha.

Dinner continued with light conversations, joking with each other and Steve hitting Bucky at least five times.  
_____

It wasn't until Thursday night that Peter and Harley were able to work on their project again. After finishing their homework, they both rushed down to work some more. Then after dinner, they were back in the lab. They finally finished it on Saturday afternoon.

“Mr Stark. You have to come and see this.” Peter all but yelled as he stepped off the elevator into the common floor.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s what Harley and I have been working on.”  
“Alright. Let’s go see what this is.”

Peter excitedly led Tony down to the labs.

“Hey, Harley? I’m back.” Peter pushed the door open.

Harley smiled at Peter and Tony.

“Voila. Our creation.” Harley yelled. From behind him, a small robot rolled out. 

It was about waist height, had a tray sticking out of its chest, arms that looked like it could have different tools for hands, wheels instead of feet. It truly was amazing. 

“Good job, boys. What’s its name?”  
“Uhh. We don’t have a name yet. We were more focused on building it than naming it, to be honest.” Peter explained.   
“Understandable.” 

After Tony studied the robot for a while longer, he left. Harley and Peter quickly cleaned up the lab from the last weeks worth of building and left. 

“Hey. Mr Stark. Can Harley and I go out for dinner tonight?” Peter asked.  
“Nope. It’s family dinner night. You boys can go pick up the food if you want to, though.”  
“Yeah. We’ll do that.” 

Peter and Harley went to collect dinner from three different places and slowly made their way back to the tower.

“How has your week been?” Peter started a conversation.  
“Uhh. It’s been okay. A little boring. At least I have Wifi at the Tower though.”  
“Yeah. You got any homework?”  
“No. I finish it all as soon as I get back from school.”  
“Cool. Can I copy yours? I haven’t done mine and I am exhausted.”  
“I guess. I don’t know if I got it all right though.”  
“I’m sure you got it all right. If you’re that worried, I can go over it in the morning to double-check.”

Family dinner finished quickly and Peter went to bed, completely forgetting to copy Harley’s homework.

Harley also went to his room early, playing video games for a couple of hours before going to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter had started to sweat and his practice had only started an hour ago. He still had an hour and a half left. 

Peter was fighting with Nat in the gym, training.   
Another half-hour of fighting went by when an alarm rang out through the gym. Natasha sprung into action. She raced to the private gym, grabbing as many Avenger suits as she could, then raced back through the main gym and through to the elevator. Peter followed her onto the elevator. They stepped off once they were on the common floor, where everyone else was gathered.   
Natasha threw the suits at their owners and they all split up to get changed.

Peter went back to the elevator and went up to the private floor. He raced to his room, put on his suit, and then raced back to the common floor. He joined the others who were all suited up.

“No.” Tony walked into the room and saw Peter. “No, Peter. You aren’t coming. This is too dangerous.”  
“Please, Mr Stark? I’m ready. I can do this.”   
“No. You are not going with us on this mission. Maybe next time, Kiddo.”  
“No. Mr Stark. You might need me. I can help.”  
“I refuse to let you come with us. Cap, back me up here.”  
“Don’t drag me into this. I don’t even know what we are fighting.”  
“I’ll tell you on the way. For now, tell Peter he can’t come with us.”  
“Tony. He might actually be able to help. He is ready to fight.”  
“Not this. Peter is not ready to fight this.”  
“What is it?”  
Tony paused, trying to decide whether he should say it or not. “HYDRA Copy group.”  
“Peter might be useful.”  
“Or in danger.”  
“And if they want us out of here because they know who Spider-Man is and knows you would leave him here?” Nat offered.  
“No. No one outside of this building knows about Spider-man’s identity.”  
“That’s not true. Ned and Aunt May know.”  
“No one else does though. That’s it.”  
“Tony. Just let the kid come. He can be on look-out or something.” Steve piped up, finally taking a side in the argument.  
At that moment, Harley rushed in, panting.  
“I am not letting you come, too,” Tony said.  
“Too? What do you mean?”  
Tony hesitated. “Peter is allowed to come on the mission.”  
“What? No. Mr Stark. You can’t do that.” Harley argued.  
“Why not? You aren’t my protector. I am trained enough to fight some bad guys.”  
“You can’t go out there. What if you get hurt again?”   
“Harley. Please stop. I am going.”  
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because I care about you too much to let you go out and get hurt. I can’t see you unconscious on a hospital bed again.” Harley almost cried.  
“Boys. Stop this. Every second you spend arguing, another person dies.”  
“Peter. Just stay here.”  
“Give me one good reason why.”  
“Because I really like you and I don’t want you to die before I get the chance to date you.”  
“I’m going, Harley. These guys need all the help they can get.” Peter turned and followed the Avengers out to a Quinjet that was waiting for them.

The Jet flies itself as Tony explains the situation.

“A HYDRA copy group has threatened the Avengers directly. Bucky, I don’t think you should go in with us. Just in case things get messy. I’m not sure what they want. I am hoping to find that out today.  
“Peter and Bucky, you two are on look-out.  
“Nat, Steve and Clint, you guys attack here.” Tony pointed to a map on the table in front of them.  
“Rhodes and Sam, circle and come in from above.  
“Wanda, Vision and Bruce, spread out around the building and find different entrances to come in through. If you can’t find anything, break a wall.  
“I’ll come in through the roof with the birds.” Everyone nodded, understanding their jobs.

“Everyone relax before we land,” Steve instructed.

Tony sat in the pilots' seat but didn’t touch the controls, leaving the jet to fly itself.  
“JARVIS. Call Pepper.”  
“Yes, Sir.”   
The phone rang three times before Pepper picked up.  
“Tony? What’s going on? I have a meeting in a few minutes.”  
“Sudden mission. Just calling to say hey before I jump into what could be the end.”  
“Where are the boys? Is someone looking after them?”  
“Peter is here with me, Harley should be at the tower.”  
“Peter is with you? Why would you let him go on the mission?” Pepper yelled down the line.  
“I didn’t have much of a choice, Pep. He was arguing and we were wasting time. The only way the argument would end was if I let him come with me.”  
“He better not get hurt, Tony. If he does, it’s your fault.”  
“I know, Pep. You think I want him to come?”   
“And you all better be back in time for dinner.”   
“I’ll try my best, hunny. Love you. Bye.  
“Love you, too. Stay safe. Don’t let Peter get hurt. Bye.”  
Tony ended the call and collapsed back into the chair.

“Hey, Mr Stark.” Peter sat on the floor next to him.   
“Hey, Kiddo.”  
“I’m sorry for arguing with you.”  
“It’s okay, Kiddo. I think you might be in trouble though.”  
“Why?”  
“I was just on the phone with Pepper. She knows you’re with me.”  
“Oh. Can I go to Aunt Mays after the mission? Please?”  
“Nope. Dinner at the tower first.”  
“Mr Stark. Miss Pepper is going to kill me.”  
“I know.”

The two of them sat in silence for a while, enjoying the view.

***

"Plane landing soon." An automated voice rang out through the Quinjet. The team gathered by the back door and waited for the jet to land. Peter grabbed Tony's hand, starting to regret wanting to come. 

"Go! Now." Steve yelled, startling the team into action. Everyone went their different ways, some flying, some running around the building and some making their way right to the big front doors.

Peter and Bucky, both on the lookout, were the last to leave the Jet, making sure that it was closed and invisible. 

They split up, Bucky making his way round to the other side of the building. Peter walked around in front of the building, debating whether he should go inside and help the team or stay out here. 

A slight rustling just around the corner snapped Peter out of his thought. He looked up just in time to punch the man that was flying at him. He pushed the man to the ground and looked around for any others. No one else was around. 

It was another forty-five minutes of the quiet outside when Peter decided he had enough and had to make sure the team was okay. 

Peter webbed himself up to the roof and worked out very quickly why no one had come to attack him on the ground. there were almost a hundred heavily armed men standing on the roof, keeping a lookout.

"Uh. Hey everyone. Nice to meet you all. I'm Spider-Man. What're all your guys' names?"   
The guys nearest Peter dove in to attack him while the others quickly trained their guns on the boy.   
Peter webbed three guys together and used them to hit a group of other guys. 

"Karen. Contact Mr Stark." Peter said.  
"Calling, Mr Stark."  
The phone rang a few times before Tony answered.

"What?"  
"Uhh. I'm on the roof and there are heaps of guys up here. Is there any way I can contact Mr Bucky to ask him for help?"  
"Yell out to him."  
"Oh. Right."  
"Anything else?"  
"Is everything okay inside? It has been very quiet out here and I haven't even heard any noise from inside."  
"Yeah. These guys don't seem to be trained at all. I think this is set up but Cap won't listen to me."  
"So get out before you get hurt."  
"Can't do that, Kid. Call Bucky for help." Tony ended the call.

Peter fought his way to the other side of the roof, webbing most of the men up, before jumping down in front of Bucky.   
Bucky jumped back, ready to fight whoever it was in front of him.  
"Mr Bucky. It's me. Peter. Don't attack me."  
“Peter? What… What’s going on?”  
“Uhm. There were heaps of people on the roof. But I fought most of them. I think the rest might want to attack us now.  
As Peter finished his sentence, a group of men landed in front of Peter and Bucky. Instantly, they jumped in to fight. The fight lasted only a couple of minutes. Peter had webbed a group together and up against the wall while a pile of either unconscious or dead bodies sat a few feet away from them. 

Bucky sank to the ground, leaning against the building. His breathing increased in speed and decreased in volume. He started whispering to himself.  
“They’re all going to get hurt because of me.”  
“This is what they wanted.”  
“This was their plan.”  
“It’s about me.”  
“It’s my fault.”  
“I did all this.”

Peter slowly approached the man, his friend, who was now crying.  
“Mr Bucky?” he whispered.  
“Mr Bucky? Can you hear me? Is it okay if I touch you?” Bucky didn’t seem to hear Peter. Peter slowly reached out and lightly placed a hand on Bucky’s shoulder.   
Bucy snapped his head towards Peter, fear clear in his eyes.   
"Mr Bucky. Can you hear me?" Peter repeated. Bucky nodded slightly.  
"Are you okay with me touching your arms?" Bucky nodded again.  
"Can I touch your shoulders?" Bucky shook his head no. Peter placed his hand on Bucky's arm, having removed it from his shoulder.   
Bucky placed his metal over top of Peters' hand. Peter looked at Bucky's face and continued talking.  
"We did so well here. We have protected our friends, our family, possibly the world. We may not look like we are doing much but we are helping them. Can you hear me?" Bucky didn't nod this time.  
Peter started to shake Bucky's arm, trying to get his attention again. Bucky looked at Peter.  
"Everything is okay. We beat those guys. It's okay."  
"No," Bucky mumbled.  
"Why isn't it okay?"  
"Here for me. Want me." Bucky mumbled again.  
"The whole team would protect you before these guys even got close to you.  
"That man." Bucky pointed to a man who was lying next to the pile of bodies. "Tried to get me."  
"But he didn't. Karen, Call Mr Stark."  
"No. Don't bother them." Bucky tried.  
Tony answered his phone.  
"What is it this time, Kid?"  
"Uh. We beat those guys but Mr Bucky is having a panic attack and I'm not sure how I can help him. Is Mr Captian America free? I think he might be able to help Mr Bucky."  
"I'll see. If he is, I'll send him out."  
"Okay. We are out the back of the building.”

A few minutes later, Steve came rushing around the corner of the building.

“Bucky!” He yelled. Bucky looked up from the patch of dirt he was staring at and, as soon as he saw Steve, he relaxed slightly. Steve came to a skidding stop on his knees right in front of Bucky. He wrapped his arms around him and Bucky leaned into Steve’s chest and relaxed even more. Peter watched, afraid that Steve might be angry at him for not doing anything to help bucky.

Steve carried the now slightly shaking Bucky to the Jet.  
"Tony. Clear out. The place is empty. It was a trap." Steve warned over the comms.   
"Who set the trap, though?" Peter asked.  
"Could be the copy group, Fury or even a threat we don't know about. No matter who it was, we need to leave as soon as possible."   
Everyone regrouped at the jet, every person bearing at least a small injury. Natasha had a few bruises while Clint had a slice down his arm.  
The ride back to the tower was silent, other than the constant whispering from Steve who was comforting Bucky and the adults that had tried to talk to an unresponsive Peter.


	10. Chapter 10

Peter, who had found a corner hidden by a cupboard door that was left open, spent most of the flight hidden. He had ignored Tony’s attempts to talk to him, he had pushed off Natasha’s soft embrace and had turned his back on Rhodey’s concerned look. 

One thought kept attacking Peter for the whole four-hour flight. “It’s my fault that this happened to Bucky.” No matter what the others said to him or how fine Bucky seemed to be, he couldn’t stop feeling guilty. 

“Peter. What happened is not your fault. It is HYDRA’s fault. No one else’s.” Tony tried. Peter didn't even acknowledge that Tony was there. 

“Peter. Please. Stop hiding away. No one is blaming you.” Natasha had tried after Tony gave up. Peter scooted slightly further away from her as she reached to wrap her arms around him.

“Kiddo. What happened? If it’s because Bucky had a panic attack, that isn't your fault. If anything, it’s Tony’s fault.” He looked at Peter, almost scared that the kid was about to start crying. Instead, Peter turned so he was facing the wall, away from everyone. 

The adults decided to leave him for the rest of the ride, agreeing that they would talk to him once they were back at the tower. 

Peter, thankful that the team had finally left him alone, allowed the tears to flow down his face, trying to keep as quiet as possible, knowing that the team were all processing what had happened. 

As the jet’s AI announced them being half an hour away from the tower, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Steve and Sam started discussing the mission. 

“It was a trap meant to test our ability.”   
“But who set it?”  
“I feel like it was Fury, testing us in case of a real mission.”  
“Or it was that Copy group, wanting to know if they can beat us. If it was them and they saw what happened, they would have no problem destroying us. We had a kid and an ex HYDRA agent on guard, one of which had a panic attack and the other relying on the adults for guidance while on the look-out.”  
“But we can take what happened today and train harder and better so that it doesn’t happen. Either don’t let Peter help again or teach him what to do in different situations, including a fellow member having a panic attack or something like that,” Sam said.

Peter sat in the corner, continuing to listen to the conversation. So he was the problem. 

As the jet neared the tower, the team began to go back to their normal, happier, selves. Even Bucky seemed to be okay. Peter still hadn’t moved from the corner, though. 

The jet landed at about 1 AM, the tower was still very much alive though. Harley and Pepper were waiting for them in the lounge, both fighting off sleep with coffee. 

Harley jumped off the couch and rushed towards the team.

“Where’s Peter?”  
“I think he might still be on the Jet.” Tony answers.  
Harley rushed past the team and went looking for Peter. Peter was just exiting the jet when Harley walked outside.   
“Hey. What happened? Are you hurt? Is everything okay?”  
“I‘m fine, dude. Honestly.” Peter replied, walking past Harley.

Peter walked into the tower and straight to the elevator, asking F.R.I.D.A.Y to take him to the private floor. He went to his room and locked the door. 

“Mr Stark? Is everything okay?” Harley asked when he rejoined the team in the lounge.  
“Why do you ask?”  
“Peter just locked himself in his room and ignored me.”  
“Oh. Is he still upset?” Natasha asked.  
“Seems so. I’ll go talk to him.” Tony moved towards the elevator.   
“Why is he upset? What happened.” Pepper asked.  
“Someone had a panic attack and Peter was the only one around and he wasn’t sure how to help. I think he blames himself for what happened.”  
“I’ll go talk to him then,” Bucky said from across the room. “It’s my fault he feels like this.”   
“Are you sure? You could wait until tomorrow when you have a bit more energy.” Steve offered.  
“No. I’ll go now.” Bucky got up and disappeared into the elevator, heading towards Tony’s private floor where Peter was hiding.

“Hey, Peter?” Bucky knocked on the door and waited for a reply. None came.  
“Peter? Please open the door. If you don’t, I will not hesitate to kick it down.” Bucky warned. The door clicked and Bucky opened it to see Peter lying on his bed, still in his Spider-Man suit.

“Peter. I need you to know that what happened out there today wasn’t your fault and needing to contact Tony and Steve is perfectly fine. And I am fine now. There is nothing wrong with how you acted today. I am glad you were there to help me and I am very thankful for what you did.”

Peter rolled over to the side of the bed and sat up, his head still hanging. Bucky walked towards the bed and sat next to Peter, slowly wrapping an arm around the boy. 

“I didn’t try hard enough. I panicked when you started panicking and it was all my fault that we had to fight them anyway. I was only on the roof because I was bored and wanted to fight inside with the team. If it wasn’t for me, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Peter. If I had stood out there for too much longer, I would have had a panic attack anyway. Only, it would have been alone instead of with you there to help me. You being there and you getting Steve to come seriously helped me so much. Thank you.”

Peter leaned his head on Bucky’s shoulder. “I just wish I could have done more to help.”  
“I know you do, Kid. But you did a really good job anyway.”  
“Thanks, Mr Bucky. I should get some sleep. I’m-” Peter cut himself off. “Aunt May.” Peter scrambled around his room, looking for his phone. After searching for it for a few minutes, Peter realised he had left it in the kitchen that morning before patrol.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Can you please ask Mr Stark to come up here and to grab my phone off the bench in the kitchen?”  
“Yes, Peter,” The AI replied. 

Tony appeared in the doorway a couple of minutes later. Peter, who had gone back to leaning on Bucky, sat up. 

“Mr Stark. Does May know that I went on the mission tonight?”  
“Shit. I don't think so. I didn't tell her and I’m assuming you haven't either.” Tony threw Peter’s phone at him.

Peter rang May’s phone anxiously.

May picked up on the second ring.

“Peter Benjamin Parker! Why aren’t you at the apartment and why are you ringing me at two in the morning?!” May yelled down the line.  
“Aunt May. I am so so so sorry. There was a pretend mission this afternoon and it was a long flight away but you were working when the flight left and I didn’t have my phone on me. I’m sorry Aunt May.”  
Tony was impressed and concerned at how well Peter managed to lie to his aunt.  
“A mission out of town? No. You are not allowed to go on those, Peter. You know this. What if you die? Or get hurt? No. You stay there tonight and sleep. Come to the apartment after school tomorrow, though,” May said.  
“Yes, Aunt May. I love you. Night.” Peter hung up and looked and Tony.  
“I’m in a lot of trouble.”


	11. Chapter 11

Peter avoided most of the team for the next few days. It’s not that he didn’t want to see them, he still feels guilty for possibly making things worse. It was easy to avoid the team as he was spending the next few days at his aunts but the team had his number for emergencies and they kept texting to ask if he was okay. The only person he has replied to is Tony.

_Hey, kid. You still coming to the tower on Thursday or do you want to spend more time at your aunts?_ \- Tony

_Uhh. I’m not sure. I might come to the tower after my patrol on Thursday. See how I feel._ \- Peter

Peter ignored all other texts. In order to do that, it meant he was leaving his phone at home while he went to school. That meant that when his phone kept lighting up on the kitchen bench while May was making herself lunch, she investigated.

There were 83 unread text messages from different members of the team. She opened his phone and looked for the conversation with Tony.

_Hey, Tony. It’s May here. Peter has left his phone at home and keeps getting texts from everyone. Let them know he won’t be replying. Could you tell me what’s going on, please?_ \- May (Peters phone)

_Hey, May. I’ll let the team know. There was a minor accident on the mission the other day and Peter seems to be feeling guilty about it. Will be fine soon. I’ll talk to him when he comes to the tower._ \- Tony

May put Peters phone back on the kitchen bench and went back to watching TV, wondering what could have happened on the mission that has Peter leaving his phone at the apartment.

Peter got back to the apartment at about 5 pm. Dinner was waiting for him on the table.

“Hey, May. I’m home.” Peter called out.  
“Hey, Peter. I’ll be out in a second.”

May and Peter ate their dinner in comfortable silence. Peter cleaned up afterwards.

“Movie night?” Peter asked.  
“Yeah. Sounds good. Can I talk to you first, though?”  
“Uh. Yeah. What’s up?”  
“I saw some messages on your phone today. You usually take it with you to school.”  
“What were some of the messages?”  
“It seems that The Avengers are worried about you.”  
“I told them I’m fine. Why won't they just leave me alone?”  
“I messaged Tony, too. What happened on the mission, Peter?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Really? Tony said you felt guilty about something. I’m worried, Peter.”  
“There was just a little fight that I was involved in. It doesn’t matter.”  
“It does matter.” May stood up from where she was sitting on the couch. “It does matter because something happened and now you’re avoiding your team. What if there was another mission and you don’t have your phone to know about it or you’re ignoring them and they need you?”  
“I don’t want to go on the next mission. I can’t do that at the moment. I don't want to make the same mistake.” Peter whispered, tears threatening to spill.  
“Come here. Tell me what happened.” May sat back down and opened her arms, motioning for Peter to come and join her. He sat next to her and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.   
“It’s my fault. I sent Mr Bucky into a panic attack and he might be fine now but he wasn't then. When he looked at me, I could see the fear in his eyes and if I had just done as I was told, it wouldn’t have happened.”  
“Baby. It isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. If he’s okay now, then everything’s okay.”   
Peter didn’t say anything. He just stayed curled up in his aunt's arms.

May put a movie on and Peter and Aunt May stayed on the couch, watching movies all night. Peter fell asleep around 10 pm, May falling asleep not too long after him.

Peter went to the Tower after his patrol the next day. Still in his suit, he climbed up the side of the tower and snuck in through his bedroom window. He got changed, sent a text to May saying he was at the tower, then pulled out his homework.

The comfort of his room at the tower helped him ignore his guilt and focus on his homework until it was all complete.

“Dinner is ready in the Kitchen of the social floor.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the top levels of the building.

Peter sat on his bed, trying to decide whether or not to actually go to dinner or to just grab something from the private kitchen. Thinking about his conversation with May the night before, Peter decided he would join the team for dinner.

Peter snuck into the kitchen on the floor a couple of levels below where he was, trying to stay as quiet and unnoticed as he could.

“Hey, Peter,” Steve called across the room. Shoot.   
“Uh. Hey.” Peter replied.  
“When did you get here? I didn’t see you come through the lounge.” Tony asked.  
“Oh. I got back about 5. I came in through my bedroom window and spent all evening in my room.” Peter explained  
“Why didn’t you join us in here? We had a movie playing,” Bucky said  
“I, uh, had homework.” Peter avoided looking at Bucky.

Dinner was loud. Everyone was talking, joking around and laughing. Peter was sitting between Tony and Clint. Tony seemed to be having an important conversation about who knows what with Bruce while Clint was talking with Natasha and Sam.

“So, Peter. How was school today?” Steve asked across the table.  
“It was okay. Saw another one of your stupid videos. Had the Captain America Fitness Challenge again.” Peter said.  
“Wow. Must be cool. Seeing my face before you participate in class, right.” Steve laughed.

The conversations continued around Peter. Once his plate was empty, Peter stood, intending to go back up to his room or to find Harley.

“Leaving us already, Peter? Why don’t you stay for dessert?” Natasha asked.  
“I have some stuff to do. Sorry.” Peter quickly washed off his plate and disappeared to the elevator.

Peter entered the lab, looking around for Harley.

“Harley? You in here?” Peter called out.  
“Yeah. I’m here.” Harley walked out of the Spider-Man room. “Dinner over already?”  
“I left early. Why weren't you there?”  
“I asked Mr Stark if I could skip because I wasn’t hungry.” He explained.  
“Have you eaten, though?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Alright.”

Harley walked back towards the Spider-Man room. Peter followed him. The two of them spent the evening relaxing on the couch.

“Was it true?” Peter asked after almost an hour of silence.  
“What?”  
“What you said to me the other night before I left for that mission?”  
“Oh. That.”  
“Yeah.That.”  
“Well. Yeah.” Harley admitted shyly.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. Yeah, it was.” Harley was more confident that more he said it.  
Peter didn’t say anything.  
“Is that okay with you? Because if it’s not, this is going to be awkward.”  
“I think it’s okay with me. I mean, I think I kinda feel the same way about you?” Peter whispered.  
“Really?”  
“Well. Yeah.”  
Peter and Harley smiled at each other before falling back into a slightly uncomfortable silence. 


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a few weeks. Peter and Harley were going great. They had stolen moments in their lab together, not telling The Avengers, May, or anyone at school that they were together. 

Tony had spent hours trying to figure out who was behind the trap in Arizona, but he was finding nothing.  
Bucky had been seeing a therapist, trying to improve his mental state so he doesn’t have another panic attack while on a mission.   
Steve, Natasha, Clint, Sam and Rhodey were training and testing Peter so that he can be better on missions.

Peter had been doing well on patrols. He wasn’t getting hit, shot or stabbed. His schoolwork was going good. He was passing all his tests, doing better than Flash. Peter was in a good mood.

Maybe that’s why he was so angry when a guy got away.

***

Peter was out on patrol on a Tuesday evening. Karen informed him of a group of guys robbing a nearby bank. Peter had rushed over and webbed half of them up. The remaining three guys started running, each with a small bag. Peter started running after them. He jumped on top of one of the guys, webbing one of the others up. He ran after the last guy, following him around a corner. Peter raced around the corner, coming out to a busy street. 

Peter looked around the crowded street but couldn't find the man anywhere. Peter turned and went back down the alleyway. He picked up the dropped bags and headed back towards that bank after making sure the other men were webbed up. 

Once the police arrived at the scene, Peter found the highest building and sat on the roof. He watched the busy streets below. 

***

When his patrol was over a little while later, Peter went back to the apartment and went straight to bed. He hadn't had a fail like this is weeks. 

When May got home, he was asleep. 

***

Peter went to school that next day. During lunchtime, he told Harley about what happened.

"Babe. It's one guy with a little bit of money. The world still loves you."   
"But what if this guy goes on to cause more trouble because he managed to get away from me?"   
"Then you'll catch him. Maybe not next time but you will catch him at some point."  
"You don't know that for sure."  
"Yes, I do. You will catch him. I know this because it's you."

***

A few days later, Peter was on his way towards Queens.   
It was a quiet afternoon. Peter spent most of it sitting on high rooftops. That was until Karen informed Peter of a disturbance at a bank. Peter followed Karen's directions.

“Spider-Man. We meet again.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You don’t remember me? Ouch. A few days ago, you stopped a bank robbery. Remember that? Remember that one man that got away? Well. Hello.”   
Peter fired webs at him without hesitation. The man dodged each one.   
“Now, now, Peter. Don’t be so rude.”  
“How do you know who I am?”  
“I can’t tell you that. It’ll ruin all the fun.” The man smiled at Peter before punching him in the face and running.  
Peter, after taking a few seconds to recover, ran out onto the street, looking for the man who had escaped him twice now. Once again, the street was busy and the man was nowhere to be found.

Peter swung back to the Tower half an hour later, still angry.

“He escaped me again.”  
“Are you sure it was the same man?”  
“Yes. And he knows my real name.”  
“You have to tell Mr Stark.”  
“I can’t do that. Mr Stark will kill me if he finds out that someone knows who I am.”  
“Or Mr Stark will help you find this guy and you can track him down and get him locked up.”  
“No. I’m not telling him. If anything more happens, then I’ll tell him. No one will believe a man who says that Spider-Man is a sixteen-year-old kid.” Peter ended the conversation there.

***

A few days later, Peter and Harley were sitting on the couch in the Spider-Man room, just enjoying each others company. 

"Hey. You ever think about what you want to do when you're older?" Peter asked.  
"Not really. Think I might ask Mr Stark for a job here though. You?"  
"I don't know."  
"You could be Spider-Man." Harley offered.  
"But would I want to come out to the world? I would need a job still. Even if I did tell the world. I can't get paid through being Spiderman."  
"Why not? You could start up one of those donation pages. I'm sure everyone would want to donate to you."  
"I'll get old one day. No one gets that excited about Iron Man or Captain America anymore."  
"I guess."

"Peter. There is a problem. Mr Stark needs you in his lounge." F.R.I.D.A.Y informed Peter. 

"I'll be right up."  
"Babe. Please don't leave me."  
"Then come up with me."  
"But I don't want to move."  
"Then stay here. I have to go."   
Harley dragged himself off the couch and followed Peter out to the elevator.  
They rode the elevator in silence.

"Hey, Mr Stark. What's wrong?" Peter asked, walking out of the elevator.  
"Peter. Sit down."   
"What's wrong?" Peter asked, a lot more seriously now.  
"There has been an accident."  
"What happened?"  
"Your apartment building. It was attacked."  
"Aunt May!"   
"She's okay. I called her. She was at work. She’s on her way over here now. Don't worry, Peter."  
"But all our stuff. My school work. Aunt mays stuff. All of Uncle Bens stuff. Everything." Tears were now pouring down Peters' face as he began to realise what had happened.   
"There is a visitor on the ground floor wanting to see Mr Stark," F.R.I.D.A.Y said.  
"Name?"  
"May Parker."  
"Send her up."  
A couple of minutes later, the elevator opened. May came running into the room, incredibly upset. As soon as she saw Peter sitting on the couch, she rushed over to him.  
"Thank god you're okay. I'm so glad you weren't in the apartment. Are you okay?"   
Peter couldn't say anything. He just hugged his aunt tight and cried into her shoulder. 

Peter and May didn't move from their spot on the couch for hours. May fell asleep at one point. Peter refused to let go of her, scared that she would vanish. 

Tony walked into the lounge at about 3 am and found May curled up around Peter, asleep. Peter was still awake. He was curled up, letting May hold him. He seemed to be crying still, which made sense. 

"Peter. Do you need anything? Tony whispered into the silence.  
"Huh? Oh. Mr Stark. Uhm. No. I'm okay, thanks."  
"You sure, kid?"  
"Yeah." Peter went back to staring at nothing.   
Tony went to the kitchen and poured three big glasses of water. He carried two of them out to the lounge and placed them on the coffee table.  
"Here, Kid."   
He went back out and grabbed the last glass on the bench and headed back to his room. He was at the door, about to go in, when he heard quiet crying from the lounge. He went back out there to see Peter, who had now moved out of Mays hold, sitting on the other end of the couch, in tears. 

Tony walked over to him.

"Hey, Kid. Come here." Tony opened his arms. Peter threw himself into Tony's chest.   
"Shh. It'll be okay. Don't worry. Everything will be fine."  
"We've lost everything, Mr Stark. All those pictures. All those memories. Everything."  
"I know, Kiddo. It won't be easy but you'll be okay."

***

A week later, Peter and Aunt May were living at Stark Tower and Peter hadn’t gone back to school. May was staying in Peters room while Peter stayed in Harley’s room with Harley. 

“Mr Stark? Are you okay with me and Aunt May staying here?” Peter asked quietly one afternoon.  
“Of course, Peter. I love having you here.”  
“I don’t know about Aunt May, but I’ve been looking at new apartments for her. I know she wouldn’t want to stay here.”  
“Would you move with her?”  
“I can’t leave her on her own.”  
“Yeah. I understand,”  
“When do you think I can go out on patrol?”  
“What do you mean? I haven't banned you, have I?”  
“No. But I didn’t think you would want me going out on patrol.”  
“Good point. You can go out now for a bit if you’d like.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. I’ll be keeping an eye on you through Karen. If you get into trouble, I’ll come and help you. Don’t worry.”  
“Okay. I won’t be out too long and I promise if things get too much for me, I’ll come back here.” Peter assured.

Peter quickly got into his suit and raced towards Queens. Upon reaching the city, he found a high building and sat on the edge, watching the busy streets below. 

“Hey. Spider-Man. Can you help me?” a voice yelled from the streets below. Peter jumped down, swinging from balcony to balcony. 

“How can I help?”   
“This guy just stole my bike.”  
“Do you know where he went?”  
“He said something about missing his train and needing my bike to get there.”  
“So he’s probably at the train station?”  
“I don’t know how to get there, though.”  
“I’ll see what I can do to help.” With that, Peter took off, swinging around the city. 

He reached the train station and looked around for a man on a bike or a bike left unattended. There was a bike rack full of different bikes, only a few of them had bike locks. 

“Well, Peter. Haven’t seen you around the city much. Would that have something to do with your apartment burning down?” A familiar voice reached Peter’s ears.  
“What do you want?”   
“I just wanted to ask how you’re doing with the loss of your aunt and all your things?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Oh. Do you think it was accidental that your apartment building burnt down out of every apartment building in the city? Is it a coincidence that the fire started on the 7th floor?”  
“You! You destroyed my home!” Peter yelled.  
“Careful, Peter. People can see you. There are cameras everywhere. Don’t make a scene.”  
“Who. Are. You?” Peter growled  
“Two years ago, you locked up a big group of men and women. You caught them committing a small crime and got them all locked up. My husband was in that group. He killed himself in jail, thinking I didn’t love him anymore. You destroyed my life before I even touched your’s.”  
“If he was committing a crime, then he deserved to be caught. My job is to protect the people of this city from those doing wrong.”  
“Your job is protecting people? Well. Where were you when my husband killed himself? You weren’t protecting him, were you?”  
“Leave me alone.” Peter was resisting the urge to cry.  
“Just you wait, Peter Parker. I’ll get you back. Your precious aunt won’t be the only casualty.”  
The man disappeared into the crowd of people. Peter asked Karen to ring Tony’s number immediately.

“Mr Stark? I… I can’t get myself to the tower. Can someone pick me up?”  
“On my way, Kid.” Tony hung up and raced to the nearest exit, the Iron Man suit forming around him as he ran.

Peter had managed to get outside to the street before he fell to the ground, sobs tearing through his body.

Tony landed right next to Peter and instantly stepped out of the suit, wrapping himself around the crying boy in front of him.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part two of the story. When I wrote the story, I had it split into two stories, each 12 chapters long.

_ A couple of weeks later. _

Peter slowly walked out to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. It was about 3 AM and Peter couldn’t sleep. Again. 

Harley woke, feeling movement in his bed. He opened his eyes to see Peter walking out of the door. He slowly climbed out of bed and followed his boyfriend, making sure he was okay.

Peter sat on the bench in the kitchen, giving up on food, when he heard movement in the doorway. He didn’t even bother to look up.

“Hey.” 

Harley clicked on the lights. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. Was just feeling hungry.”

“So where’s your food?”

“I already ate.”

“No, you didn’t. I woke when you got up and I followed you out here. You haven’t eaten.”

“I don’t feel hungry anymore.”

“Why don’t you feel hungry?”

“I don’t know.”

Harley went to the cupboard and pulled out a few containers. He then went to the fridge and grabbed some things from there. He placed everything on the bench across from where Peter was sitting. He walked over to Peter and wrapped his arms around his waist. 

“Can you help me?” Harley asked with a mischievous grin.

“With what?”

“I feel like cookies and I can’t bake them on my own.”

“Babe. It’s three in the morning. Are you seriously baking cookies?”

“Yes. I am. So. Will you help me or am I burning the tower down?”

“I’ll help you. I don’t want to lose everything.”

“Oh, shoot. Babe. I am so sorry. I didn't even think. Sorry-”

“It’s okay. I’m okay. I promise.” Harley looked at his boyfriend worriedly for a few seconds before pulling utensils out of random drawers and started baking.

***

A couple of hours later, Peter and Harley had two plates stacked high with different types of cookies. Peter had a small smile on his face and flour in his hair. Harley had flour all over his pyjamas and a huge grin on his face.

“You look cute like that,” Harley said.

“Like what?”

“Like you.” Peter’s smile widened. 

“I’m having a shower. Want one too?”

“Nah. I’ll just go get changed.” Peters smiled shrunk again. He headed towards his and Harleys shared room, looking for some of Harley’s clothes to wear. 

Harley stayed standing in the middle of the kitchen for a few moments. He had missed Peters dopey grins and the bouncy attitude he always had. Harley understood why Peter was so upset. He had lost his home and almost all of his treasured items and was being harassed by a stranger while out doing his job. Harley tried to understand how Peter was feeling. He could relate to some of what he was feeling.

Harley moved away from Rose Hill a few years after his mother died. No one was able to track down his father. He stayed with his mothers' friend for a few years while he tried to finish school after his sister was sent to live with relatives on the other side of the country. Tony contacted him a year after his mother died, which was a couple of years after he had met Tony. They had loose contact for a few years when Tony then offered him a home at Stark Tower. Harley agreed quickly. 

Harley snapped out of his thoughts and went towards the bedrooms. Peter was just leaving the bedroom as Harley was entering.

“You okay?” 

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“No. You’re not. What do you need?”

“I don’t know, Harley,” Peter whispered.

Harley wrapped his arms around Peters' shoulders, holding him tightly. Peter wrapped his arms around Harley's waist and held on just as tightly. They stood there for a few minutes, neither wanting to move.

“I should go have that shower,” Harley whispered. Peter smiled and stepped back.

“Yeah. You should. You look like you were attacked with flour.” Harley smiled one more time at his boyfriend before stepping into the bedroom. Peter turned and headed back towards the kitchen. He grabbed a handful of cookies and headed to the lounge.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y? Could you play my last played playlist on Spotify, please?”

“Of course, Peter. Anything else I can do for you?”

“No thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

A random mix of songs started playing, filling the silence in the lounge. Peter rested his head on the back of the couch and tried to relax. 

Harley walked into the lounge to see Peter, half-asleep on the couch with three cookies perfectly piled on his knee. Harley smiled at his boyfriend before joining him on the couch.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Could you put on SpongeBob SquarePants, please?”

“Yes, Harley. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Just make sure it’s quiet, thanks.” 

The music turned off and the TV screen across the room lit up. They two boys stayed on the couch for another hour. 

***

“Morning.” Came a quiet voice from the doorway. Harley looked up and saw Tony standing there.

“Morning, Mr Stark.”

“Why are you boys up so early?”

“Peter couldn’t sleep and he accidentally woke me up a few hours ago. He didn’t want to go back to sleep so I stayed up with him,” Harley explained.

Peter was still fast asleep. Harley had moved him so he was laying down across the couch with his head resting on Harley’s lap. 

“Do you want to move around a bit? Get some breakfast or something?”

“No. I’m good.” Harley looked back down at Peter who, as Tony just realised, looked calm for the first time in a few weeks. 

Peter woke up not long after Tony got up. He slowly made his way back to the bedroom without saying anything to anyone, and just climbed into bed. 

“Is he okay?” Tony asked after watching Peter walk away.

“No. I think today might be a bad day for him.”

“No school for you then. That okay?”

“Yeah. That’s cool with me. Thanks, Mr Stark.”

“I have meetings today that Pepper is forcing me to go to so I can’t keep an eye on him.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him, Mr Stark. And the others are around if I need help. And if it’s serious, I’ll contact you or Miss Pepper.”

“Good. Are you okay?”

“Me? Yeah. I’m good.”

“Really?”

“Just worried about Peter.”

“If you need a break from him, just say so. I can try to organise a holiday or at least a day out or something for you.”

“It’s okay, Mr Stark. Honestly.” Harley smiled at Tony in reassurance. 

Tony left for his meetings after making sure both boys were okay. Harley grabbed a handful of biscuits and headed to the bedroom to check on Peter. He was still asleep. 

Harley went to check on May after that. She hadn’t left Peters old room in a few days. He knew F.R.I.D.A.Y would alert someone if anything happened but he still went to check on her.

“Hey, May?” Harley whispered into the darkened room.

“Hey, Harley.” Came a soft response.

“I have cookies. Peter and I did some baking.”

“What time is it?” 

“About 6:30 in the morning.”

“When did you boys bake them?”

“About 4 this morning.”

“Why were you up so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Harley walked over to the bed, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. “Here.” He handed a cookie to May, who took it and slowly bit into it.

“Mmm. This is amazing. Peter couldn’t have baked these.” Harley laughed at May’s comment. 

“I did most of the work.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Is there anything I can do, May?”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t come out for a few days now and I think it might be starting to affect Peter. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Is Peter okay?” May asked worriedly.

“He’s okay at the moment but I’m scared that if you stay cooped up in here, his mental state might worsen. What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know, Harley. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know that asking for help can be hard and to begin with, you don’t even know that you need it or know how to ask. Do you want me to ask Tony to help you at all?”

“Um. If it isn’t an inconvenience to you or him. I know that I should be out there supporting Peter because he lost everything too, but I just can’t.”

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to Mr Stark when he gets back later. For now, Peter’s asleep. Do you want to maybe hang out with some people later? I know there is a group of adults hanging out a couple of floors below us in a couple of hours if you want?” Harley offered.

“Oh. Uh. Yeah. I think that’ll help.”

“Cool. I’ll come and get you soon.” Harley left the other cookies he had with May then left the room. 

***

Peter woke up almost two hours later. He got up slowly and went looking for Harley. Harley was sitting in the lounge on the private floor, watching TV.

“Hey,” Peter mumbled as he threw himself into the seat next to Harley.

“Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“I don't believe you but okay. Oh. By the way. I managed to get May to get up.”

“Really? How?”

“I told her that if she stays cooped up in the room, then it could have negative impacts on your mental state. I then asked her if she wanted to hang out with a group of adults.”

“So you lied to her then set up a play date with her and The Avengers?”

“Um. Kind of? I didn’t lie to her, though.”

“At least she’s up, I guess.” Peter gave Harley a tiny smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

***

That afternoon, Tony got back from his last meeting of the day.

“Hey, Kiddos.” Tony greeted the two boys sitting on the couch.

“Hey, Mr Stark. How boring were the meetings?” Harley joked.

“Extremely.”

Tony went to the kitchen, walking out with a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee a minute later. 

“What’d you boys get up to today?”

“Well. While Peter slept, I went and talked to May. I offered to take to meet up with some people. She went and sat with The Avengers. I made sure everyone was okay with it first.”

“Good. Were they alright with her being there?”

“Yeah. I was there, too. It was the happiest I’ve seen her for a while.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“No. not really. Kinda just been sitting here, watching SpongeBob Squarepants.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Oh. Mr Stark. While I was talking to May, I asked her if she wanted any help or anything. I offered to talk to you about doing something for her. I was thinking maybe a therapist or something like that.”

“That's a good idea. I’ve been thinking about that too. For both of them.”

“Hey. No. I’m fine. I don’t need to see a therapist.” Peter spoke up, not looking away from the TV.

“Yes you do, Babe.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Harley looked over to Tony. “He needs one, too.” He mouthed. Tony nodded in response. 

***

“I’m off to bed,” Peter announced at about 5:30.

“Dinner first, kid.”

“But I’m tired, not hungry.”

“Still Dinner.” 

Peter slowly made his way to the kitchen.

“Dinner is downstairs tonight.”

Peter turned around and headed for the elevator.

Tony and Harley followed him. They went down to the Common Floor, joining the Avengers as dinner arrived.

“Hey, Kid. Long-time, no see.” Steve greeted.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, Kid. He meant to say we miss you, that's all.” Bucky laughed, lightly shoving Steve.

Dinner was unusually quiet. Peter and Harley didn’t say anything all meal. Natasha, Sam, and Rhodey had other things on so they weren’t at dinner. Pepper had a meeting in Hong Kong, so she wasn’t there. That left Wanda, Steve, Bucky, Tony, and Clint with the boys. 

Steve, Bucky and Wanda were having a quiet conversation at one end of the table while Tony and Clint were having a conversation at the other end. Peter and Harley were sat next to each other, Peter only nibbling at small bits of food. 

“Can I go to bed now, Mr Stark?” Peter asked quietly once he had reached the point of not being able to eat anything else.

“Sure, Kid.” Harley and Peter both got up, took their plates to the kitchen and then left for bed.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Nothing, Harls. I’m good. Just tired.”

“Okay.” 

Peter and Harley went to bed. Peter curled into Harley's side, resting his head on Harley's shoulder. Harley wrapped an arm around him, holding him. Peter fell asleep quickly. Harley was laying there, watching Peter sleep while scrolling on his phone. 

***

It was a few hours later, once Harley had just drifted off when Peter started twitching and shaking in his sleep. The movement caused Harley to wake.

“Peter? You okay?”

Peter just kept twitching and rolling around on the bed. Tears started falling down his cheeks. 

Harley grabbed Peter around the shoulders and held him close. Peters breathing became uneven. 

“Baby. Come on. Please wake up.” Harley begged. “Come on, Babe.”

Peter relaxed a little bit but was still crying and shaking slightly. He woke up, finding himself in Harley's arm.

“Hey, babe. What happened?”

“Nothing. Just a bad dream, I s’pose.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” 

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

  
  


Peter settled back into the pillows on the bed. Harley laid next to him, holding him tight. Harley fell asleep quickly, Peter being wide awake and too scared to fall asleep. 

Peter stayed sitting in the darkness for a couple of hours, every little noise outside making him jump and the shadows in the room causing his eyes to water. He was glad Harley hadn’t woken up because he would probably suggest more cookies.

A bang from a few kilometres away caused Peter to tense up and squeeze his eyes shut, His eyes began to water and his breath caught in his throat. The little amount of oxygen he was getting wasn’t nearly enough. 

“Kid? Kid. Peter. Let me in. Please.” Tony’s muffled voice barely broke through Peter’s racing thoughts. The door opened and Tony moved towards Peter.

“Peter? Peter? Can you hear me? Can you focus on my voice?” Peter nodded slightly.

“Okay. Are you okay with me holding you?” Peter nodded again.

“I’m going to wrap my arms around you. I want you to try and copy my breathing, okay?” again, Peter nodded. Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, holding his head to his chest. Tony began to slow his breathing so Peter would do the same. 

“In… 2… 3… 4… and out … 2… 3… 4. Great, Kid.”

“S-Sorry, Mr Sta- Mr Stark.” 

“It’s okay. I understand. Do you want to stay in here or go somewhere else?”

“Avengers lounge?”

“Alright. Is there anyone you want to be with you?” In response, Peter reached out and grabbed Harley’s hand. 

“I’m going to let you go so that I can stand up, then I’m going to carry you to the elevator and down to the lounge. Is that okay?” Peter nodded. Tony slowly released Peter back onto the bed, stood up off the bed, then reached down to pick the young boy up. Peter didn’t let go of Harley's hand so Harley climbed over the bed and walked next to Tony.

“Do you want to talk about what caused this, Peter?”

Peter shook his head.

Tony placed Peter on one of the couches in the lounge and sat next to him. Harley sat on the other side and gently placed an arm around Peter’s shoulders. Peter leaned into the touch. 

Tony grabbed a soft blanket and placed it next to Harley. 

“I’m going to go make some Hot Cocoa. Don’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do.” Harley nodded in understanding. 

Tony returned a few minutes later with three cups of Hot Cocoa balanced on a tray. He placed the tray on the coffee table, handed on cocoa to Peter, one to Harley and kept one for himself. 

“Peter. I know you said you didn’t want to talk about it but is there anything at all we can do?”

“No. Not really. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you guys up. I was just being stupid.”

“You weren’t being stupid. We understand.”

“But I was being stupid. I know the tower isn’t going to burn down and I know that no one here hates me for what happened but I still feel like these things aren't true and it keeps getting worse.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“The mission. Last year with Liz. That guy finding out about me. My apartment building burning down.”

“Babe. The mission was fine. That guy is a creep and the apartment had nothing to do with you.”

“I know but… I still feel really bad.”

“Kiddo. You’re allowed to feel bad. Everyone does at some point. But you just gotta believe that there are people here for you. I’m here, Harley’s here, The Avengers I know for sure would all die for you in a second.”

“Yeah. I know. Thanks, by the way.”

“What for?”

“Bringing the Cocoa and carrying me down here.”

“It's okay, Kid. It’s what I signed up for when I let you live here. Random Hot Cocoa at 3 in the morning along with some weight lifting.”

Peter smiled slightly.

  
  


He rested his head on Harley’s shoulder again, holding Tony’s hand. He slowly sipped his Cocoa. It was an hour later, once he had finished his drink, that Peter fell asleep again. 


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone had returned from their private missions. Even Thor was at the tower, which was rare.

It was now Saturday morning.

Peter untangled himself from Harley and climbed out of bed, trying his hardest not to wake Harley. Once he was sure he had succeeded in his mission, he quietly made his way to the kitchen.

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Can you help me make breakfast?”

“Sure, Peter. What are you making?”

“Uhh. How about some poached eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and baked beans?”

“Sounds good. Who is this for?”

“Me, Harley, Aunt May, Mr Stark and Miss Pepper.”

“Sure.”

Peter managed to cook breakfast, with F.R.I.D.A.Y’s help, just as Tony and Pepper were getting out of bed.

“Morning, Mr Stark. Morning, Miss Pepper.”

“Morning, Kid. What’s this?”

“I woke up early this morning so I decided to cook breakfast. I hope it’s okay.”

“Thank you, Peter. That’s very thoughtful of you. Is there supposed to be anyone else joining us for breakfast?” Pepper asked.

“I made some for Harley and Aunt May as well. I’ll go wake them now.”

Peter rushed off to wake the other two.

Peter ran back to the kitchen within a couple of minutes, a tired May and an exhausted Harley following him slowly.

“Morning,” Tony called cheerfully from his seat at the table.

“Morning,” May mumbled as Harley groaned.

“It’s too early for happy,” Harley complained. Tony laughed as Harley sat down. 

“It’s 8:30, Kid. That’s late.”

“No. Way too early.”

“Oh. Sorry. You can go back to bed if you want to.” Peter said apologetically, walking over to the table with two plates of food.

“Nope. There’s food here.” Harley smiled up at Peter.

Everyone started eating once all the plates had been handed out.

“Did you cook this, Peter?” May asked, surprised.

“Yeah. Does it taste okay?”

“This is really good. When did you get so good at cooking?”

“Well. F.R.I.D.A.Y helped me. I wasn’t really sure how to cook some of it and I think I almost burnt some of it but I managed to not poison anyone. I hope.” He smiled at May.

Once everyone had finished their breakfast, Peter gathered everyone's plates and took them to the kitchen, getting ready to clean them off.

“Hey, Kid. Everything okay?” Tony asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You don’t usually cook or anything. I was just a little worried something was wrong.”

“No. I’m good.” Peter turned back to the sink, scrubbing at the pan in the water. Tony stood in the doorway for a second before leaving. Once Peter was sure he was gone, he slouched against the bench and let out a sigh.

“I’m okay. Everything’s okay. No one is hurt. Everyone is okay.” Peter whispered to himself. 

After taking a few quick breaths, he straightened up and continued washing the dishes. 

Once the kitchen was clean, Peter started cleaning around the place. He tidied up the coffee table, cleared the couch, did whatever he saw needed to be done. 

It was now about 10 am. Peter was sitting on the couch, reading a book. Tony walked into the lounge.

“Hey, kid. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Everything’s good.”

“Can I ask whats bought on this sudden burst of happiness?”

“I can’t keep focusing on the past. If the things around me are going to keep going, then so do I.” Peter smiled at Tony, hoping the older man would buy his lies.

“Alright, Kiddo. Oh. I was asked to remind you that Nat and Rhody have set up some training for you in their lounge in about half an hour.”

“Half an hour?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem? Do you have other plans?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll go to the training. I can do what I had planned after.”

“No. You can’t. Training is expected to go through to about dinner. And it’s family dinner again tonight.”

“Can I ask you something, Mr Stark?”

“Shoot, Kid.”

“Are you changing routines because of my issues?”

“You don’t have issues.”

“Okay. Are you changing routines because of my anxiety?”

“No. I am not.”

“Is the team?”

“No, Peter.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kid. Go get ready for training.”

Peter headed towards his room to get into some training clothes. Twenty minutes later, Peter headed to the shared lounge. 

“Hey, ребенок паук. How are you?” Natasha greeted.

“I’m good. You?”

“I’m okay. Today's training isn’t going to be physical.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have decided to include more than just combat and strength training in our routine. It is clear that for a lot of the team, there are other skills we have to work on.”

“Like what?”

“Well. there are some things we need to learn about other team members, how each other work and what scares them. We need to mentally strengthen ourselves in case one of us gets captured for information.”

“So this is about another team member having an anxiety attack on a mission and everyone else knowing how to help them?”

“That is part of it.”

At that moment, the rest of the team stepped out of the elevator.

“Now that everyone is here and everyone has been caught up, we can begin.”

“Why are you running this?” Steve asked.

“Because I seem to be trusted and no one else volunteered. Any more questions before I begin?” everyone shook their heads.

“Good. Now. I want to begin by everyone, only if you are comfortable, saying what health issues you struggle with, including mental health.” Tony, who was sitting next to Peter, placed a comforting arm around the boy's shoulders.

“I’ll go first. I struggle with PTSD, depression and anxiety. Other than that, I am healthy.” Steve offered.

“I have PTSD, depression, anxiety and anorexia. Also, I am an amputee.” Bucky mumbled from next to Steve.

“I deal with PTSD and depression. I seem vulnerable to colds have constant back pain from my time flying.” Sam spoke up.

“I have anxiety. Also, I turn really big and mean when my heart rate gets too fast.” Bruce said.

“I have what I believe to be PTSD. I haven’t been officially diagnosed though.” Thor said, unusually quiet.

“I have PTSD, anxiety and depression,” Tony said. He looked at Peter comfortingly.

“Uhh. I guess I have anxiety, depression and PTSD. And I guess that I have a really fast metabolism, therefore I have to eat more food.” Peter looked worriedly up at Tony who smiled in response. “Good job, Kid,” he whispered into Peters' ear. 

“I have PTSD. I am also mostly deaf. I wear hearing aids most of the time.” Clint said, reaching out and tapping the mentioned device sitting behind his ear. 

“I have PTSD and anxiety. Maybe slight forms of depression but nothing to worry about. Other than that, I'm good.” Wanda said.

“I have PTSD and anorexia.” Natasha finished. “Now that we all know about what each other struggles with, what kind of things help?” Natasha opened a notebook that was sitting on the coffee table and got ready to write whatever was being said.

“Constant touching from someone I trust.” “Talking. Calming noise” “People understanding that I might need some time alone” “hugs” “listening to music” “motivational speakers”. Natasha wrote down every idea that was being said. 

“How about you, Kid? Anything help you calm down?” Tony asked.

“I find that, uh, distracting from the problem helps. Like baking or something.” Peter mumbled. Natasha wrote it down, smiling at Peter.

“Okay. Any last ones? Nope? Alright. What are some triggers?”

“Loud noises” “the silence” “mention of my past on a bad day” “being in a war-like zone” “losing people” “New York battle” 

“Great. Other, more personal triggers, can be discussed privately or at a later date.”

“Mr Stark. Can I leave for a bit?” Peter whispered to Tony.

“What’s up, Kid?”

“I- I don’t know. I really need to leave.” Peter’s breathing became slightly uneven, his eyes started watering and Tony could feel him start to shake. 

“Okay, Kid. Go and find Harley. You don’t have to tell him what’s up. Just hang out with him. I’ll come and find you later.”

“Thank you, Mr Stark.” Peter got up and almost ran to the elevator.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asked once the elevator had taken him up.

“Yeah. He’s okay. There was just something he needs to do.”

“You haven’t sent him out on patrol, have you?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that. Not at the moment.”

“So what’s going on?”

“I don’t know if it’s my place to say.”

Peter ran out of the elevator, almost tripping over his own feet in the rush. He went straight to his bedroom door, hesitating slightly before he opened it.

“Why should Harley have to deal with him being a baby?” “Harley has his own stuff to worry about.” “I should just leave him alone. He finally has some time away from me. I shouldn’t interrupt that.”

“Peter? Is that you at the door?” Shoot. Harley heard him running around. 

Peter opened the door, his breathing now shallow. Harley, seeing the panic on Peters' face, stood from the bed and rushed to his side.

“Peter? Is it okay if I hold you?” Peter didn’t acknowledge the question. Harley grabbed Peters' hands and slowly led him to the bed. He guided Peter to sitting on the bed. Harley slowly started rubbing his hand up and down Peters back, trying to soothe him.

“Okay. Babe. I need to know if you can hear me. Can you hear me?” Peter nodded.

“I want you to listen to my voice. Breath in for me. In in in in. and out out out out. Good. and again. In two three four. Out two three four.” Harley repeated the breathing pattern for Peter for the next few minutes until Peter was calmer.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I don’t know what happened. One minute, I was fine. Then all of a sudden I couldn't breath properly and I felt like I was going to cry and everything was too loud and too bright.”

“It’s okay. You’re okay now. You’re safe here with me. I’ve got you.” Harley wrapped Peter in a hug and started rubbing his back again.

Peter wrapped his arms around Harley’s waist and rested his head on Harley's shoulder. 

They sat like that for a while.

“You feeling better?” Harley asked

“Yeah. heaps. Thanks.” 

“It’s okay. I'm here for you, babe.”

Peter smiled thankfully at Harley

“Peter? You in there?” Tony had come looking for Peter, just as he promised.

“Yeah. Doors open.” Tony entered the bedroom, looking slightly worried.

“You okay, Kid?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. Sorry for running out in the middle of training.”

“It’s okay, Kid. You didn’t miss much. And don’t worry. I didn’t tell the others what happened. I just said there was something you had to do and you probably won't be back for the rest of the training.”

“Thanks, Mr Stark. Uhm. I’ve been wondering. Would you be okay with me going out on patrol?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it but up to you, Kid.”

“Okay. Can I go out for a while later? Like, after dinner? Even if I just spend an hour sitting on rooftops or something?”

“Sure. Stay on a call with someone though. I want you to have constant contact with someone here in the tower who can reach me quickly.”

“Yes, Mr Stark.” Peter smiled.

***

Dinner was, well, odd. Everyone had agreed not to ask Peter what happened. Everyone had a feeling they knew what happened but no one was brave enough to ask Peter over dinner while Tony was around. The only people at the table who knew what happened were Peter, Tony and Harley.

“So, uh, what did I miss after I left?” Peter tried.

“Not much. We kind of didn’t want to exclude you so we just chatted about what else we might do in future training sessions.” Steve said. Peter nodded in awkward understanding. 

“What did you guys come up with?”

“Not much.”

Dinner was mostly silent after that. 


	15. Chapter 15

Once dinner was over, Peter went to get ready to go out on patrol. Tony walked into his room just as Peter was about to leave.

“Are you in contact with anyone?”

“I’m about to call Harley. I will stay on the phone with him while I’m out, I promise. I will only be out for two hours and if anything happens and I feel I can’t handle being out, then I will come back here. I promise.”

“Good kid. See you in two hours.” Peter leapt out of the window, swinging towards Queens.

“Hey, Karen. Been a while since I’ve been out.”

“Hello, Peter. I have missed being out with you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Karen. Got any reports for me at the moment?”

“Man seems to have stolen a car, one police car is chasing it but it looks like the guy will get away.” 

“Where?”

“Three streets to your right.”

Peter followed Karen’s directions as the car kept changing its route. Peter finally managed to catch up to the car after a five-minute chase. Peter dropped onto the top of the car. He swung into the car through the open window.

“Hey, Mr bad guy. I think you should stop this car before someone gets seriously hurt.”

“What the- Get out of my car!” the man pulled out a gun.

“Really? A gun? Every time.” Peter sighed and webbed the gun to the roof of the car. 

“Please stop this car. You have a passenger that isn’t wearing a seatbelt and that is very unsafe.” Peter tried again.

“Get out. I need to get away from the police.”

“Why?”

“I just do.”

“Why did you steal the car?”

“To get away.”

“Away from where?”

“Why would I tell you? You’re the good guy.”

“Really? Have you not noticed my absence from the city and my complete breakdown in public. Have you not seen all those posts online about how I can't protect the city because I’m too childish?”

“I have. But you’re still the good guy.”

“Awe. Thanks. Now stop this car before I have to hurt you.”

“Sorry. Can’t do that.” 

Peter attached a web to the dashboard and another web to a building as the car raced past. Peter realised what would happen too late. The car kept going and, as the webs pulled tight, the car lifted off the ground slightly, then crashed back down. Hard. Glass shattered everywhere. Sirens faded in and out. Peter could tell there were people moving around him but he didn’t know who or why. Slowly, the world around him came into focus.

“Peter? Peter? Can you hear me?” Karen was trying to get his attention.

“Report, Karen.”

“You have minor cuts on your chest, arms, legs and face. Possible concussion.”

“Has Mr Stark been alerted?”

“No. Would you like me to do so?”

“No. Thank you.”

Peter climbed out of the wreckage, noticing the crowd that was now gathered around the area and the police turning up. He looked back into the car and saw the man, unconscious.

“The driver is there. He’s unconscious.” Peter informed the nearest officer. He then swung away, avoiding too many cameras.

“Hey, Karen. Can you unmute Harley?”

“Sure.”

“Hey, Harley? You there?”

“Hey. Yeah. I’m here. Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine at the moment but I just really need to be talking to someone at the moment.”

“What happened?”

“Minor car accident. It was my fault. I don't think anyone is seriously injured though.”

“Oh, my- Peter! Are you okay? Are you injured?”

“No. I’m not injured. I’m fine. Just a little shaken.”

“Okay. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Harley. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

Peter sat on top of a building, watching the streets below.

“It’s amazing up here. I’ve missed it.” Peter whispered. 

“Wish I could see it.”

“I could bring you up here?”

“Nah. I don’t like heights.”

“It would be worth it. I used to hate heights, too. But when I became this, I got used to it.”

“I don’t think I could get used to that. It's terrifying.”

“I guess. I try not to think about it too much.”

Peter leapt off the building, deciding to walk around the streets.

He constantly avoided any big groups he could, trying to ease his slight panic he felt. 

“Peter. I would suggest going back to the rooftop. You seem to be feeling anxious about being in this crowd.”

“No. I’m good, Karen. I can’t be the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man if I can’t handle walking in the neighbourhood.”

“Do you want me to lead you through some breathing exercises or put Harley Keener back on the line?”

“I’m okay, Karen. Thanks though.”

Peter continued to walk around, helping people whenever he could, Being the old Spider-Man. The Spider-Man he was before his apartment burnt down and the public slowly started to not trust him. 

“Excuse me. Can you help me? I’m lost.” A small voice caught Peter’s attention. He looked down at the little girl looking up at him.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“It’s me, Lucy. The little girl you saved a year and a half ago.”

“Lucy? How have you been? What did my Aunt do with you?”

“Miss Potts gave me to her sister. I’ve been going to school and I made some friends.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. How are you lost?”

“Well. Miss Potts came here to visit her sister and I ran away.”

“Why’d you run away?” Peter asked. Squatting down to her level.

“The monster was in the closet.”

“What monster?”

“I don’t look at the monster. I don’t know what it is. I just know that the monster is in my closet at the hotel.”

“Do you want to come to Stark tower with me to see Miss Pepper? She can contact Miss Potts to come and get you.” Lucy nodded. Peter offered his hand. Lucy took his hand and they started walking.

After fifteen minutes of walking, they finally reached the Tower. 

“Here we are. Let’s go find Miss Pepper or Mr Stark.”

“Mr Stark is here?”

“Yeah. He lives here. I do, too.”

Peter led Lucy to the elevator and took her up to the top floor.

“Hey. I’m back. I have a guest.” Peter called.

“Hey, babe. You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good. Harley, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is my boyfriend, Harley.”

“Hey, little one. How are you?”

“I’m okay,” she whispered. 

“Do you want some ice cream?” Harley offered. Lucy nodded, a small smile forming on her face. 

“You go out on patrol, Spider-Man. I’ll take care of her ‘till you get back.” Harley said.

“Okay. See you soon, Babe.” Harley smiled at Peter before leading Lucy to the kitchen to get some ice cream. 

Peter made his way back to Queens. He walked around the streets again, stopping at a couple of different food trucks to get some snacks. 

“Well, Parker. Nice to see you back out on the streets.” Peter froze.

“How’s your Aunt? Still nice and dead?” Peter didn’t say anything. He stayed where he was, not even turning to look at the man.

“Look at me. You know that I’m still coming for you, Peter. I know who you care about. Ned? Harley? Tony? Pepper? I have so many options.”

“Stop. Please. Just stop. I’m sorry about your husband. He chose to rob a bank or whatever. He chose to kill himself. Please don’t hurt anyone else.” Peter was crying now. “Karen. Contact Mr Stark.” He whispered.

“I won’t stop until you know who’s to blame. If you had just stayed out of it, then your aunt would still be alive.”

“Stop! Just stop it! I am not at fault!”

“Peter. Are you okay?” Tony had turned up.

“He’s running away. Again. He’s going to hurt you. He’s going to hurt everyone.” Peter started to freak out.

“Hey, Kid. No one’s hurt. Everyone's okay. Just breathe.” Tony stepped out of the Iron Man suit he was wearing and moved towards Peter who was now curled up on the ground.

“Peter. Come here. I’m here, Peter.” Tony crouched down and placed a hand on Peter’s arm. Peter launched himself into Tony’s chest.

“He’s going to hurt everyone. It’s my fault. Everyone’s in danger.” Peter was whispering.

“Peter. I’m going to let you go. I’m going to climb back into the iron man suit and lift you so that I can fly us back to the tower. Is that okay?” Peter nodded.

Tony did exactly as he said he would. 

Once they reached the tower, Tony took Peter into Harley’s bedroom and placed him on the bed. Peter was still shaking and crying. 

“Peter. Can you hear me?” Peter nodded. 

“Can you talk?” Peter shook his head.

“Do you want me to go and get Aunt May?” Peter shook his head.

“Harley?” Peter shook his head again. 

Anyone?” Peter shook his head. “Just you,” he whispered. Tony moved closer to Peter, holding the shaking boy close.

“No one’s getting us. We are all safe. Everyone’s safe. Aunt May is in the bedroom. Harley is in the kitchen with Lucy. The Avengers are all downstairs together. I’m right here with you. Everyone is safe.” Tony whispered to Peter. 

They sat on the bed for close to an hour until Peter was able to stand up without falling to his knees. 

“Peter. It’s time to go to bed. While you get ready for bed, I’ll go find Harley.” Peter slowly moved to get ready for bed while Tony went to find Harley. 

Harley came into the room with Lucy following him. Peter was now in his pyjamas, sitting on the bed. 

“Hey. Are you okay? Mr Stark told me what happened.”

“I’m okay. Just a little shaky, I guess.”

“Are you okay, Spider-Man?”

“Yeah, Lucy. I’m okay.”

“Where am I sleeping? Miss Potts hasn’t got home yet so I can’t contact anyone.”

“Sleepover in here tonight?” Peter offered. Lucy smiled and nodded enthusiastically. 

“Hey. F.R.I.D.A.Y. Can you let Mr Stark know Lucy will be sleeping in here with us? And could you put on the eighth Disney movie on my list, please?”

“Of course, Harley.”

The TV mounted on the wall opposite the bed lit up, the Disney castle opening playing on the screen. As the movie started, Peter, Harley and Lucy climbed into the bed, Lucy snuggled between the two boys.

“Don’t worry, little one. There aren’t any monsters in my closet.” Peter whispered to Lucy. Lucy smiled as she settled down on the pillows behind her. Once again, she was asleep before the movie had properly begun. 

When Peter was sure that both Lucy and Harley were asleep, he climbed out of bed. He didn’t want to wake both of them up in the night with a nightmare. 

Peter crept towards his old room, wanting to know if his aunt was awake.

“Aunt May? Are you awake?” Peter whispered

“Hey, Peter.” Peter sat on the bed next to her.

“Hey, Aunt May. How are you?”

“I’m okay. You?”

“I don’t know. Do you know what the date is?”

“Yeah. I do.” May reached up and placed her hand on Peters' cheek.

“I miss him, May.”

“I know, Peter. I do, too. But things happen. Life still goes on.”

“Says the woman who hasn’t left her bed?”

“I know, Peter. I’m trying. I really am.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. How has your day been?” Peter recounted the events of the day. The new training. The mini panic attack he had at training. Going on patrol. Finding Lucy. The man finding him. Tony coming to get him. 

“Oh. My baby. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. The guy thinks you’re dead so he won’t hurt you anymore.”

“Okay. But the others aren’t safe.”

“I know. I’m working on that. I’m mostly worried about Ned. Everyone else is here so F.R.I.D.A.Y and The Avengers can keep everyone safe but Ned doesn’t come here. He lives with his family. He might be in danger right now.”

“Hey. No. Breathe. Ned will be okay. And if not, it isn’t your fault.” 

Peter laid on the bed next to May, curling up as he used to when he was little. 

“I love you, My little Avenger ” May whispered.

Peter woke a few hours later. May was now asleep. He left the bedroom, a little unsure of where to go. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to get back into his bed without waking Harley and Lucy, He knew he would wake May if he went back there. He wouldn’t even try going to Tony’s room. He might be able to chill out in the lounge. Or in the kitchen. 

Peter made his way to the kitchen, hoping everyone else was asleep. Unfortunately for him, Tony was in the kitchen.

“Hey, Peter. Why are you up at 3 in the morning?”

“Couldn’t sleep. You?”

“Same. Came out here for some food.”

“I came out here because I’m bored.”

“Wanna come down to the lab with me then? Could look at some updates for your suit if you want.”

“Really? That’d be awesome.” Peter smiled. 

Tony led the way down to the labs. 

“I want to talk to you about something, Peter. I know you aren’t going to like this but-”

“But you want to ban me from going out on Patrol because of what happened today.” Peter sighed. “I don’t want to go back out for a while. I thought I was ready but apparently not.”

“Yeah. I don’t want you out on patrol. I’m glad you agree with me.” Tony said. “It’s okay to not go on patrol anymore.”

“But it isn’t who I am. I’m the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. I haven’t been there in ages and the day I go back, I have another anxiety attack.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I know that you hung up on Harley and I know that you weren’t in contact with anyone when that man approached you. Karen was recording everything and I was receiving live footage. As soon as he started talking to you, I raced to you. I knew something would happen. Everyone here is safe and I’ll make sure that Ned has some form of protection as well. I promise.”

Peter launched himself into Tony, surprising both of them with a hug. Tony wrapped his arms around Peter. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. 

Peter and Tony worked on the suit for a couple of hours, neither noticing the time. It wasn’t until Pepper came down to the labs at 5:30 that they realised what the time was. 

“Tony. Did you really spend all night down here, again?”

“Yes. Yes, I did. Why do you ask?”

“What have I told you about staying here all night then spending all day with The Avengers?”

“Uhh. Something about responsibility and health, I think. I’m not too sure. I might’ve stopped listening.”

“Ugh. You are hopeless. You are not skipping meetings today. You will go to all the meetings and after each one, you must tell me what they were about and if you can’t tell me, I will lecture you about them myself.”

“I actually can’t today. I have my own meeting to get to. And I also promised to do something with the kids.”

“What meeting could be so important that you have to miss everything else?”

“Uhh. Nick Fury and Agent Coulson?”

“Nope. You have meetings with me then you can spend time with the boys.”

“And the girl.”

“Girl? Did you adopt another child?”

“No. I have your sisters child. Don’t worry, though. Your sister does know about it and she is okay with it.”

“You Have My Sisters Child Here!? Why? When?”

“Peter can explain.” Tony quickly answered.

“Oh. Uhm. Well, Miss Pepper. While I was on patrol yesterday, Lucy came up to me and said she was lost. I didn’t know what to do with her so I brought her here. I was unaware that any contact had been made with your sister, though. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, dear. I’m sorry about all the yelling. I didn’t realise you were in here, too.”

“Oh. It’s okay. I was about to leave to get ready for the day. And, just so you know. Mr Stark hasn’t told me of any plans so unless he made plans with Harley and Lucy, he doesn’t have any plans with us.” Peter quickly made his escape then, choosing not to hear Pepper scream at Tony any more than she already had. 

Harley was sitting in the lounge when he reached the private floor.

“Morning.”

“How long have you been up?”

“Really? You too?”

“How long have you been up?”

“Since about 3 this morning. Why?”

“I woke up and you weren’t there. I went back to sleep and woke up again and you still weren’t there.”

“I waited until you and Lucy went to sleep then went and saw aunt May. I fell asleep in there and then woke at about 3. I came out here looking for food and Mr Stark was out here. He asked me if I wanted to work on my suit. I said yes. Also, I’m not allowed out on patrol.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you come back to bed?”

“I didn’t want to wake you guys.”

“Awe. Babe.”

Peter walked over to the couch and sat next to Harley, placing an arm around his waist. Harley placed an arm around Peter’s shoulders and they held each other close.

“I’m scared, Babe.”

“I know.”

“What if he really doesn’t stop?”

“If he doesn’t, then he will pay.”

“I don’t want to get The Avengers caught up in this. They have their own stuff. I heard that the guy who runs the Avengers is coming here for a meeting and they have changed the training so we are training a lot more. I think something bad is happening and they don’t want to tell me. They probably don't want to bring a child along in case I mess up again.”

“You haven’t messed up. I promise.”

“I guess.”

Harley used his free hand to turn Peter’s face towards him. 

“Peter. Look at me. You haven’t messed up. You have performed to the best of your ability.”

Peter smiled at Harley.

“Can I…?” Harley whispered

“Yeah,” Peter whispered in response.

Their lips connected. It was short, but Peter was sure he was going to remember it forever.

“Uhm. Okay. How long has this been?” A voice caught the boys attention. They both snapped their heads towards the elevator.

“Mr Captain America, Sir. OMG. I’m sorry.” Peter rushed out, his face going red in embarrassment.

“It’s okay, Kid. I guess I’m just a little surprised. You’re like, 15, right?”

“Uh. 16.”

“Wow. The world really has changed. I didn’t even know being gay was a thing until I joined the army. Then, you seemed to forget that being gay wasn’t normal.”

Peter and Harley looked at each other, neither really knowing how to react.

“They have big parades and festivals now. Some people still don’t accept it but it is a very common thing.” Harley said.

“Really? Festivals and Parades? I’ll have to go to one of those with Bucky.” 

Peter smiled.

“Uhh. Mr Captain America, Sir. Could you not tell the rest of the team? Mr Stark knows, but I don’t think anyone else knows and I don’t want all those annoying questions everyone gets asked when they get a girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“It’s okay, Kid. I won’t tell them.”

“Thank you.”

“You haven’t seen Tony anywhere, have you?”

“Last I saw him, He was being yelled at by Miss Pepper in the labs.”

“Thanks, Kid.” Steve smiled at the two boys before turning back to the elevator.

Once he was gone, Peter and Harley looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

Captain America had just caught them sharing their first kiss. 


	16. Chapter 16

“Steve. It’s not working. I’ve run the face and voice through all records and there is nothing. The guy doesn’t exist. I’ve even looked through paper records myself and there was nothing. If I can’t find this guy, then he might hurt more people. I already can’t keep Peter safe. How can I protect everyone else? If he’s going after everyone Peter loves, then everyone here is in danger.”

“Tony. Breathe. It’ll be okay. If you tell the team some of what is going on, then they will help however they can. I’m sure if you let them know that someone is trying to hurt them and show them the guys face, they will keep an eye out when they go out.”

“But they will want to know more and I can’t tell them more. I can’t tell them how this is affecting Peter. They will go out there and hunt this guy down.”

“Maybe that’s good. Kill him.”

“Is this real? Captain America, supporting the killing of someone?”

“Well. They seem to be okay with the possibility of having killed May and he is willing to kill again, right? Maybe if we kill him first…” 

“No. I don’t even know if Peter is okay with me telling you this information.”

“I forced it out of you.”

“No. I told you.”

“Okay. Have you got anything about the mission?”

“Yeah. It was HYDRA. Sorry. I, uh, I received a message the other day. Untraceable, even for me.”

“What message?”

“The mission was a test to see who was allowed to go out and who was around.”

“Why would they tell you this?”

“I don’t know, Steve.”

“Anything else?”

“I think there might be another mission within the next few months. I’m not sure. They definitely want to attack us again. Probably somewhere away from the city.”

“How are you so sure.”

“They seem to want to get rid of us. The Avengers. If they get rid of us, they reach the goal that HYDRA failed to achieve last time.”

“Which was…?”

“Leadership. They get rid of us, they gain control of world leaders.”

“How?”

“Scared. Whoever is stronger than the Avengers must be good enough to protect the world.”

“True.”

“Anyway. Training in a few minutes. Go down. I’ll go check to see if Peter is joining us today.”

“Okay.”

Steve left for the elevator, heading down to the lounge where the other Avengers were. 

Peter walked into the kitchen where Tony was still standing.

“Mr Stark?”

“Oh. Hey, Kid.”

“What were you saying about that guy?”

“Oh. You heard the conversation?”

“Yes. I did.”

“I’ve been trying to find a way to bring it up without possibly sending you into an anxiety attack.”

“What is it?”

“He basically doesn’t exist. I have gone through every record online and through illegal ways and I can’t find him.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“I was going to tell you. I promise. I didn’t want to upset you. You weren’t supposed to hear that conversation.”

“And what about the other part? There’s another mission coming up?”

“Only Steve and I know about that. I haven’t told the team. I didn’t want anyone else knowing. Please don’t let the team know.”

“Okay.”

“We should get to training.”

“Do I have to go?”

“Yes. If it gets too much for you again, I will let you go. But then we’ll have to talk about it later.”

“Okay.” Peter attempted a half-smile towards Tony before the two of them headed towards the elevator, ready for ‘training’.

Tony walked into the room first, Peter taking a moment to ready himself mentally before facing the team. Everyone was quiet.

“Is everything okay?” Tony asked.

“Where’s ребенок паук?” Natasha asked.

“I’m right here,” Peter said, walking into the room. “What’s up?”

“When were you planning on telling us that you had a boyfriend?”

Peters' head snapped straight towards Steve. Steve sat in his seat, looking very guilty while avoiding eye contact with Peter.

“You told them? I thought you promised not to tell anyone.”

“I’m sorry. I was telling Bucky and Sam overheard and made a big deal over it. It was an accident. I promise.”

“I didn’t want everyone knowing. Not yet, anyway.”

“Why not?” Natasha asked.

“Because that usually comes with annoying questions and I’m not even sure if this is going to last long anyway. I don't want to disappoint everyone if my relationship doesn’t work out.”

“We won’t be disappointed. We will be supportive. Like a proper family. Why would we be disappointed?”

“Because. Everyone has expectations and I don't want to have to share my decisions with everyone and if things don't work out, I don't want pity from you guys.”

“Okay. Understandable. Anyway. We have some training, don't we?” Tony interrupted.

“Yes. Training.” Natasha started explaining what they were going to be doing for their training session for that day.

Once training was over, Peter quickly disappeared to his room, hoping to avoid questions.

“Peter. You are wanted in the gym.” F.R.I.D.A.Y announced.

“Tell whoever it is that I’m sleeping.”

“I’m afraid I have been told to wake you if you are sleeping. You must go to the gym.”

“Fine. I’m on my way.”

Peter dragged himself to the elevator, asking F.R.I.D.A.Y to take him to the gym that he was wanted on. 

“Hey, ребенок паук ” Natasha called out when Peter entered. 

“Hey, Мама паук (Mama Spider).”

“How are you?”

“Tired.”

“Good. Perfect time to fight.”

“Why are we fighting?”

“Because according to F.R.I.D.A.Y, you haven’t been to the gym recently and you’ve been on patrol once during the last few weeks.”

“Yeah. Stuff came up so I couldn’t go on patrol and I haven’t been able to get to the gym. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll go a little easy on you then.”

“I’m still able to fight. You don’t have to go easy on me.”

“Alright. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Natasha moved to attack Peter. They fought for a few minutes.

“Break,” Natasha called.

Peter stopped. They both walked over to the bench and sat, taking a moment to catch their breath. 

“I know you didn’t want this but when were you going to tell everyone?” Peter sighed.

“As I said. I don’t know if this is going to last and I don’t want all the questions. Especially with how things are right now.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. Just some stuff going on in here.” Peter pointed to his mind. 

“I’m here.”

“I know.”

“Have you considered seeing a professional?”

“Like a therapist?”

“Yeah.”

“No. I don’t want to.”

“Why not.” 

“I have no reason to. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“But if it isn’t?”

“Then it isn’t. I’m not seeing a therapist.”

“Did you know that the only person on the team that hasn’t seen a therapist is Vision?”

“Really? So everyone else has seen a therapist?”

“Yeah. All for different reasons, but I’m pretty sure half the team still does.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. I didn’t even think that you guys saw therapists.”

“Really? You heard all the different mental health issues we all face, right?”

“Yeah. But I thought you all just used each other for support when you needed it.”

“Seeing a therapist is one of the bravest things you can do. It’s going to be scary. And getting better can be a scary thought. But once you start improving, it feels amazing.”

“I might. I just feel like what’s going on will slow any progress I make.”

“Do you want to talk about what’s going on, then?”

“Not really. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, ребенок паук. I understand.” Natasha smiled at Peter. “Training over. Go get some rest.”

Natasha left the gym. Peter was still sitting on the bench. 

Peter left the gym not long after. He had a shower then laid on the bed with Harley, both just enjoying each others company.

“Should we ask Ned if he wants to do another Boy’s night?”

“Yeah. Sounds fun. We could even ask Mr Stark to do it here.”

“I’m sure Ned would love that.”

Peter pulled out his phone, searching for ned’s contact.

_ Hey, Dude. Boy’s night at the Tower soon?  _ -Peter

Peter turned his screen off and put his phone on the bedside table. 

“I’m guessing Miss Pepper took Lucy home?” Peter asked.

“Yeah. They left while you were at training.”

“Good. I hope she’s okay. She seemed really scared of being back in Queens.”

“Yeah. Hopefully going home is good for her.”

“Yeah. Harley?”

“Mhm?”

“Do you think I should go see a therapist?”

“Up to you. If you think it will help you, then yeah. But if you don’t think it will help, then Nah. And if you do decide to go, and it doesn’t work for you, you can stop.”

“I guess. I’ll ask Mr Stark if I can go to one here at the Tower. I don’t want to travel to a meeting.”

“Understandable.”

Peter’s phone vibrated on the table.

_ Sorry. No.  _ -Ned

_ Why? Something going on?  _ -Peter

_ No. Just don’t want to.  _ -Ned

“Ned doesn’t want to do boys night.”

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t know.” Peter showed Harley the conversation he just had with Ned.

“Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t been to school for a week so something might have happened that he hasn’t told us about I guess.”

“I hope he’s okay.”

“Yeah.”

Peter and Harley decide to have a boys night anyway. They set up a couple of beds on the floor in the private lounge and qued a load of movies. They had a pile of junk food next to each of them. Just as they were ready to start watching their movies, the elevator opened and in walked all the Avengers. Each of them was wearing their pyjamas and were carrying a blanket and a pillow each.

“What are you guys doing?” Peter asked in the kindest voice he could.”

“Joining the movie night. We were going to have one downstairs and we asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to invite you boys but we were informed that you guys already had a movie night set up so we thought we’d join you.” Steve explained.

“Okay.” 

Once everyone was comfortable, they began the movies.

Peter and Harley were cuddling on the mattress they had on the floor. Bucky and Steve were sitting together on the floor, leaning against the couch. Natasha was sitting at the end of the couch, Clint next to her. Next was Wanda, then Sam and Rhodey. Tony, who had walked in as the movie started, was sitting on a single seat. Everyone stayed like that through the first two movies. When the second movie finished, Wanda, Sam and Clint left for bed. Bucky had fallen asleep on Steve and Steve didn’t want to wake him so they stayed there. Peter was pretty sure Tony was almost asleep. Natasha and Rhodey spread themselves out on the couch, both looking really tired.

The third movie played. Peter kept an eye on the people around him, doing anything to keep himself awake. Once Peter was sure everyone was asleep, he pulled out his phone, deciding to scroll through Instagram. The first post he saw made him almost through his phone across the room. It was a screenshot of a news article from a website.

**_Should Spider-Man really be protecting out city after two public breakdowns?_ **

The headline read. He continued to read the article.

**_Spider-Man has had two public breakdowns or, as some people are describing it, anxiety attacks. People are talking, saying Spider-Man shouldn’t be protecting our city. Multiple people have described the protector as Childish, or No Good._ **

**_“He shouldn’t be protecting our city if he acts like this in public.” Says a member of the public. He went on to say that-”_ **

Peter stopped reading. He turned his phone off and left it sitting on his lap. Silent tears made trails down his face.

“Hey, Babe. What time is it?” Harley sat up slowly, not realising Peter was crying. Peter took a deep breath, hiding his tears.

“It’s late. Go back to sleep.”

“Why are you up?”

“I was about to go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Harley laid back on the mattress, snuggling next to Peter. Once Peter was sure Harley was asleep, he slid out of the blankets. He crept to the kitchen, hoping no one had woken. 

Peter slid to the floor, crying silently. The public didn’t even trust him to protect them anymore. 


	17. Chapter 17

“School tomorrow, Boys. No arguing, please.” Tony said over dinner.

“Why? It’s been so much fun not going to school.” 

“I don’t care. You will be going to school. I would much rather have you come home complaining tomorrow than come home due to a meltdown in two weeks because of all the work you have to catch up on.”

“Could we drop out and do an online course instead?”

“No. Harley might be able to but I doubt May would let you, Peter.”

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll go to school.”

“Jeez, Peter. You make it seem like school is horrible. What do they do to you there?” Steve asked jokingly.

“I already know most of what they are teaching me and the things I don’t know aren’t beneficial to me at all.”

“How do you already know?”

“I’m good with technology,” Peter said, choosing his words carefully.

“What do you mean by that, Peter?” Tony asked.

“I was able to hack into systems so that I could do online courses for free. I learnt everything I needed to pass exams over the holidays so that I could rest during school.” Peter explained to the table of heroes.

Everyone seemed stunned that innocent Peter Parker hacked his way to learn.

“You think there is any way that I can make that information legally available online?” Tony asked seemingly no one. 

“Maybe. You have the money to buy everything to give it away, right?” Natasha asked jokingly.

“I would, but I don’t think Pepper will allow me to buy education.”

Everyone at the table seemed to silently agree, each of them knowing how scary Pepper Potts can be. 

Peter and Harley left the dinner table, saying they had to get ready for school. Once they had cleaned their plates, they went to their room. 

“I don’t want to go to school,” Peter said quietly.

“Why?”

“I haven’t been for a week so there’s everything to catch up on and I’m scared Ned hates me. And what if everyone’s worked out that I’m Spider-Man? Or that guy has told everyone?”

“Babe. Breathe. It’ll be okay. If anyone asks, there was a family grievance. You had to skip school to be emotional support for me.”

“Okay. I think I can do that.”

“I’ll have my phone on me at all times so if things get too much, you can contact me. I promise.”

“Thanks, babe.” Peter smiled at Harley. 

Peter and Harley fell asleep in each other's arms. 

***

“Good morning. I hope you are both ready for school.” F.R.I.D.A.Y woke the boys up the next morning. 

Peter groaned in annoyance.

“If you two aren’t up soon, Mr Stark has promised to come in and wake you up himself so I suggest you get up,” F.R.I.D.A.Y said.

Peter and Harley slowly started moving.

“I call dibs on the first shower. You aren’t joining me.” Peter called. 

Harley happily agreed to that and laid back on the bed, hoping to sleep for a bit longer.

While Peter was in the shower, F.R.I.D.A.Y alerted Tony that Harley was still in bed. Tony had a small bucket of water, ready to throw it on whoever didn’t get up. 

As soon as Tony got the alert that someone was still in bed, he readied himself to sneak in.

F.R.I.D.A.Y promised not to alert the sleeping boy and opened the door to the bedroom. Tony snuck in and held the bucket above the bed. 

“Hey. Harley. Wake up.” He said, hoping Harley actually woke.

“I’m awake. I promise.” Harley said, slowly sitting up.

Tony tipped the bucket slowly, drenching Harley in water.

“I’m awake!” Harley yelled. Tony laughed.

“Don’t go back to sleep,” Tony warned.

“I don’t think I can.”

Peter walked out of the shower to find a shivering Harley sitting on the ground. 

“What happened?”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y wasn’t kidding when she said Mr Stark would come and wake us up,” Harley said as he walked past Peter. 

Peter then noticed the empty bucket that had been left next to the bed and the soaking blankets.

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Does Mr Stark intend on cleaning this up himself?”

“No, Peter. I don’t think he does.”

“Okay. Do I have access to his bedroom?”

“Yes. I believe you do.”

“Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

Peter continued getting ready for the day. He gathered all his necessary books and even looked at Harley’s timetable and gathered everything that Harley would need for the day. 

Peter then made his way to the kitchen, making lunch for each of them. Tony was sitting in the lounge.

“Be sure to have some breakfast, please, Peter.” He said as Peter walked past.

“Yep,” Peter yelled back.

Peter made sure to grab a piece of bread and eat it as he sat in the lounge.

“How are you?”

“I’m okay. A little sad that you’re sending me back to school.”

“It’s okay, Kid. You’ll be fine once you get there.”

“I guess. When can I go back on patrol?”

“You’re not. At least not for a while anyway.”

“Why?”

“How much of the news have you seen?”

“I saw a report the other day. I want to go back out there so I can prove myself to the city.”

“And if you have another anxiety attack? How would you fix that?”

“I don’t know. Move to a different country? Change my name and suit?”

“Whatever, Kid. Go get ready for school. Happy should be waiting outside in half an hour.”

Peter left to go finish off getting ready for school, leaving Tony to sit alone in the lounge.

Peter and Harley arrived at school safely. They both split to go to their first classes. Peter and Ned had Gym first. After the normal “Captain America” video they watched every 8 weeks, Everyone split off to complete the Fitness Challenge.

Ned and Peter, as always, worked together.

“Dude. You’ve been off for an entire week and you texted once.”

“Sorry. After what happened in town the other day, I tried to stay off my phone as much as possible. And since Arizona, we have had more training. And there have been a lot of family nights recently. So much has changed.”

“Why? Everything seems fine.”

“I don’t really know. I feel like ever since that guy found who I am, everything around me is just going wrong.”

“Stop focusing on what’s going wrong and everything will turn around.”

“No. It doesn’t seem to work like that. If I lose focus on what’s wrong, then everything will get worse. Trust me.”

“Whatever, Dude.”

They completed the challenge in silence, neither really wanting to talk.

Peter, Harley and Ned all had the next period together. Harley brought up the possibility of a boys night again. Ned quickly declined, saying he had to be home to help with his family.

Both Peter and Harley understood and didn’t push any further. 

It was at break time that Peter really started feeling like something was wrong.

“Why did both of you miss school if Peter was the only one who had anything remotely wrong?” Ned asked.

“What do you mean? I was off to support Peter.” Harley said. 

“But why couldn’t he just deal with it on his own? Or come to school? It’s not like everyone knows who Spider-Man is.”

“Just because no one knows who he is doesn’t mean it didn’t deeply affect his mental health.”

“But he could still go to school like that. It wouldn’t affect anything. He is fine.”

“Are you really sitting there telling me how my boyfriend is feeling? Why don’t you ask him and find out how he is feeling instead of making assumptions which I know are incorrect?”

“So all of a sudden you’re a mind reader? Wow. Of course. Wait. Let me guess. Tony Stark designed you both computer chips so now you’re connected?”

“Ned. Please be quiet.” Peter said quietly, trying to hide the tears that had started forming in his eyes.

Harley reached out and gently held Peter’s hand.

“Why? I’m just trying to get my point across.”

“Hey. Are you okay?” Harley completely ignored Ned and was focused completely on Peter. Peter shook his head slightly.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” Peter nodded but didn’t move.

“Come on.” Harley stood and helped Peter up, guiding him to the bathrooms. Ned was left sitting at the table, feeling guilty for making Peter feel like that. Just then, MJ sat next to him.

“Really, Ned. After the shit week he has had, did you have to treat him like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“People are bashing Spider-man online because of the anxiety attacks he’s had on patrol. I’m sure Peter knows about that. And with no one being sure about if May is alive or not, I don’t think things are going well for him. Also, people think there is going to be another attack on the Avengers. That’s Peter’s family.”

“He’s been off school for a week, MJ.”

“I know. I think he should’ve taken another week off. He seems off.”

“I don’t think he should have taken anytime off. If he can’t handle himself, then maybe he should give up Spider-Man. Give up on The Avengers.”

“That’s his family, Ned. Would you give up on your family if you felt like shit?”

“My family is actually related though. Peter is just placing himself with whoever shows him the most attention.”

“Oh, my gosh. You are so jealous of him. You are jealous that he’s working with Tony Stark and that he knows The Avengers. You are jealous that he’s smarter than you. You are so jealous of your best friend.”

“No, I’m not. I just think he’s being a child and needs to grow up. Everyone goes through stuff. Maybe he should learn to deal with it.” Ned said a bit louder than he should have.

“Stay away from Peter or I promise I will tell Tony Stark everything you just said to me. I’m sure he can find a way to make you disappear.”

MJ left Ned sitting in the cafeteria alone as she went looking for Peter and Harley, hoping to tell Harley what Ned had just said. 

MJ found Harley and Peter after her next class. They were sitting outside by the carpark. Peter was clearly upset and Harley was trying to prevent another meltdown. MJ slowly approached the boys.

“Uh. Hey. You guys alright?” MJ asked hesitantly.

“No. I don’t think we should have come back to school. Had we known how Ned felt, we would have avoided him but we can’t and now…” Harley didn’t finish.

“What’s your number? I need to text you something.”

“Here.” Harley pulled out his phone and showed MJ his number. MJ spent the next couple of minutes typing to Harley what she and Ned had spoken about during the break.

“Here’s Mr Stark,” Peter mumbled. Just then, a car pulled up in front of them. Peter waved slightly at MJ then climbed into the car. 

“Thanks, MJ. I’ll talk to Mr Stark later.” Harley climbed into the car after Peter.

“What’s up, boys?” Tony asked cheerfully. 

“I’ll tell you later. Something happened at school.”

“Okay,” Tony said, sounding more serious.

The drive back to the tower was quiet. Tony made sure to drive carefully and followed the road rules. 

When they reached the private floor, Peter went straight to his old room where May was. 

Harley and Tony stayed in the lounge.

“So what happened?” Tony asked.

“Ned.” 

“What’d he do?”

“Basically said that Peter was being a baby and should stop overreacting to what’s happening. MJ texted me a summary of what Ned said after we had left but I haven’t had the chance to see it.”

“Do you know where Peters phone is?”

“Probably in his bag. Or in his pocket.”

“I want to stop Ned from being able to contact Peter. I don’t care what I have to do. That kid is not allowed to contact Peter ever again.”

“I’m sure Ned is just upset and lonely. Maybe there’s some stuff going on for him at the moment that we don’t know about.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to treat Peter like that.”

“Yeah.”

“So what did Ned say?”

“He didn’t seem to get that Peter wasn’t in a good place mentally and I was off school to support him. He then heavily implied that we were using you for your technology to be better than other people. And said that because no one knows about Spider-Man, then Peter still could have and should have come to school last week, completely ignoring how it would have affected Peters mental state.”

“Have you read that text from MJ?”

“Yeah. She says that Ned was saying that if Peter can’t handle this, he should give up. And said that this isn’t Peter’s real family,” Harley said, scanning over the text from MJ   
“That- ugh. That kid.”

“Don’t do anything. Please, Mr Stark. We can talk to May about pulling Peter out of school due to mental health. Or we can talk to the school about doing private tutoring for him. Just don’t do anything to Ned. He’s fine.”

“You saw Peter. That’s not okay. That’s not even close to okay.”

“I know. I’m so scared. Mr Stark. I am terrified. But we can’t hurt Ned. Think of how much Ned has done for Peter. He’s been Peters friend for so long. He’s supported him. He’s been there for him. I know that what he’s done isn’t right but what he’s done before is.”

“Why is a child wiser than me?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Tony smiled slightly and wrapped an arm around Harley.   
“Peter will be okay,” Tony whispered. “We’ll make sure.”

  
  


Peter stayed curled up on the bed next to May. He had explained what Ned said about him at school. May and Peter sat on the bed, hugging. Peter had cried himself to sleep and was now curled in a tight ball on the bed. 

Harley knocked lightly on the door. He then pushed it open.

“Hey, May. Is he okay?”

“Yeah. He told me what happened at school. He then cried himself to sleep.”

“MJ told me some more that happened after we left though.”

“What happened?”

“Ned basically said that Peter should give up on Spider-Man and that The Avengers aren’t his real family.”

“Peter can’t go back there.”

“That’s what I came in here to talk to you about. I don’t think it’s safe for Peter to go back. Especially considering Peter and Ned have at least three classes together every day.”

“I don’t want him going back there.”

Peter began to stir where he laid. May placed a hand on his arm. Peter then slowly sat up.

“Hey. How long was I asleep?”

“A while.”

“I heard what you said.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to go back to school. I can’t.”

“It’s okay. We’ll sort something out. I promise.”

Peter smiled at his aunt. 

“I’m going to go to bed. Love you.” Peter said as he climbed out of the bed. 

“Okay. Night.”

Peter made his way back to his room, throwing himself on the bed as soon as he got into the room. 

No one had changed the blankets yet so the bedding was still soaked. 

Peter quickly regretted his decision of flopping on the bed but he was too tired to get up. So instead, he rolled off the bed and laid on the floor. 

Tony walked into the room to see Peter sitting in the corner.

“Sitting in the corner? Mind if I join you?” Tony joked, sitting next to Peter. Peter leant his head on Tony’s shoulder. 

“I can’t go back to school, Mr Stark. I can’t go out. I just can’t anymore.”

“Why not?”

“I heard what Harley was telling Aunt May. Ned’s right. This isn’t my real family. My real family, other than Aunt May, is dead. I don’t belong here.”

“Peter. Listen to me. The people in this tower may not be related by blood but they still love you like family. I know for sure that I love you. And Pepper loves you. And Harley loves you. You are loved by everyone here, Peter.” Tony said.

“Logically, I know. But emotionally, I don’t believe it.”

“You don’t have to answer but would you consider seeing a therapist or something? I can get them to come here to meet with you.”

“No. I can’t. I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t. I’m Spider-Man. I’m strong.”

“Peter. I’m Iron Man. I see a therapist. I see a therapist twice a week.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You don’t fly into a wormhole and fight against your team in an airport and walk away perfectly fine.”

“I guess. But I haven’t done that.”

“No. You’re right. You’ve only lost your parents at a young age, watched your uncle die, lost people while on patrol, struggled with personal identity, lost your home and are currently being harassed by someone who knows more about you than you know about them.” Tony said sarcastically. “You have gone through so much and I am so proud of you for staying strong for this long.”

“I don’t want to go alone,” Peter whispered.

“Me or Harley or May, or anyone can go with you.”

“You or Harley.”

“Okay. We’ll sort something out. I promise.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Peter whispered. 


	18. Chapter 18

Harley walked into the bedroom to see Tony and Peter sitting on the floor, talking quietly.

“Hey. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. We need to talk to you. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Couldn’t you just ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to contact me?”

“We were having fun talking.”

“Okay. What’d you want to talk to me about?”

Tony looked at Peter. Peter nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ve agreed to see a therapist. But I want either you or Mr Stark there. I’m not going alone.”

“Okay. I’m okay with going if that’s what you want.”

“Good. I have Avengers stuff so I might not be too reliable but I’m sure Harley is reliable enough that he can go with you. Is that okay?”

“Yeah.” Peter nodded. 

“Speaking of Avengers stuff, I have training. You coming, Peter?”

“No. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll tell the team you have homework.”

“Thanks.” 

Tony got up and left for training.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know. I guess just with everything going on after the apartment and that man and stuff, What Ned said got to me.”

“Understandable.”

“I’m heading to the labs. I have some ideas for my suit that I can work on while I’m not going out.” Peter said.

“Want me to come.”

“I don’t mind. Your choice.” 

“I’ll be down soon. I have a couple of things I need to do first.”

“Okay. See you soon I guess.”

Peter got up and left for the lab. He asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to make sure that no one was around, hoping to avoid everyone. Thankfully, all the Avengers were at training, Pepper was out of town and May was in her room. 

Peter made it to the lab. He made his way through the room to the Spider-Man room. He made sure to grab a tablet and his headphones before going in. 

Instead of sitting on the couch, Peter made a hammock out of his webs and rested in that as he wrote his ideas out.

***

It was a couple of hours before Peter looked at the time again.

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where’s Harley?”

“Harley is currently in his room. Would you like me to let him know you are looking for him?”

“No thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.” 

Peter sent Harley a message.

Where are you? I thought you said you would come down to the labs soon. It’s been a couple of hours. -Peter

Sorry. I thought you would want to be alone for a while. -Harley

It’s okay. You don’t have to come. -Peter

Mr Stark says you have to come up here for dinner. -Harley

Tell him I’m sleeping -Peter

A couple of minutes later, Harley replied

He said if you don’t come up here, he will come and find you and force you up here -Harley

I’m on my way -Peter 

Peter still didn’t move from his hammock. He put his phone down and continued planning his designs.

It was half an hour later when the door opened.

“Dinner.”

“No. I’m sleeping.”

“You can’t be sleeping with devices on. You’re coming up to dinner.”

“Who’s there?”

“Family dinner.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Good thing I brought us food then. Come join me down here.”

Peter slowly made his way down from the ceiling. 

Peter and Tony sat on the floor, eating the plates of food Tony had brought down with him. 

“You can’t stay here all night, Kid.”

“Why not? You do it.”

“I’m not a role model. Surely you’ve learnt that by now.”

“I don’t want to go back up there, though.”

“Why not?”

Peter stayed quiet for a few minutes, suddenly interested in playing with the remainders of the food on his plate. 

“Why not, Peter?”

“I’m safe here,” Peter whispered.

“You’re safe anywhere in this tower, Peter.”

“I know, but this feels safest.”

“Yeah. This place is pretty safe. With all the scrap metal and sharp objects and flammable stuff around.”

“This feels safest.”

“Why do you think I spend days at a time hidden away in here? I know that F.R.I.D.A.Y will let someone know if I haven’t eaten for a while. I have a couch in my lab to sleep. I have what I need to be okay for a few days.”

“I don’t want to leave here. I’m okay here.”

“I know, Kid. Do you want me to send Harley down later?”

“If he wants to come down.”

“No. That’s not what I’m asking. Do you want Harley here?”

“No. Not really.”

“Okay. Someone will come to check on you later and you will have to leave here at some point tomorrow.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes. I have booked for a therapist to come and see you in a few days.”

Peter nodded in understanding.

“You finished? I’ll take these back upstairs.”

“I’ll do it, Mr Stark. It’s okay.” Peter said, momentarily forgetting that he would have to walk past The Avengers. Peter collected all the dishes, including the cups and plates that the boys had left in the lab and took it all upstairs to clean. 

Once the elevator reached the shared lounge, Peter regretted his decision to carry the dishes. He took a deep breath before stepping out.

“Hey, Peter. How are you? We missed you at training today.” Sam called out. 

“I’m good. I’m sorry. I was busy.”

“Yeah. Tony said you were doing homework. I thought you were smart enough that you wouldn’t have to go to school anymore.” Steve joked. 

“Huh. Yeah. I still have to complete the work or I can’t graduate when the years up.”

“That sucks. If you want, though, we can help with anything you don’t understand.” Rhodey offered

“No. I’m okay. Thanks though.”

“Alright, Kid. Your loss.”

“I think he would get it done faster if he did it himself instead of letting you help him, James,” Natasha said, smiling.

“Hey. I was top of my class.”

“Peters top of the school, though.” Bruce pointed out, joining the conversation.

“Whatever.” Rhodey sulked.

“What do you learn in school?” Wanda brought the attention back to Peter.

“Oh. Uh. Loads of different things. But as I said the other day, I know almost all of it anyway.”

Peter quickly left, hoping to hide away in the kitchen until he was able to face another awkward conversation. 

Unfortunately, Steve got up and followed him into the kitchen. Peter tried to hide the tears in his eyes that had formed between the lounge and the kitchen. 

“You okay, Peter?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” Peter said, trying not to cry.

“No, you’re not. You want to talk?”

“No. I’m just going to go to bed. I guess I’m just tired.”

“Okay. Just to let you know. I’m more than just a strong man, Peter. If you want to talk, I’m here,” Steve said awkwardly. 

“Thanks, Mr Captain America, Sir.”

“It’s okay, Kid.”

Peter finished washing off the plates and quickly escaped back to the elevator.

Peter stayed in the lab all night, laying on the couch fixing bugs in his coding for the suit. He fell asleep for a while and when he woke up, It was 5 AM. Surely none of the Avengers would be up at this time. And if he was lucky, Pepper might be back. 

Peter took the elevator up to the private floor, looking for food and Pepper. Luckily, he found both. Pepper was making toast in the kitchen when he walked in.

“Morning, Miss Pepper.”

“Good morning, Peter.” Pepper smiled at Peter. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m alright. Didn’t sleep much. I was working on my suit.”

“Just like Tony. Always up all night working on suits.”

“All night? When did Mr Stark stay up all night working on suits?”

“Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you.”

Peter and Pepper sat on the couch with a few pieces of toast each. 

“You know how it all began, right? In the cave?” Peter nodded. 

“Well. After he got back from the cave, he kept working on making the suit better. There were so many different versions. I don’t think I even saw them all. After New York, when Tony had a lot of extreme PTSD, he worked even harder. Would spend days hidden in his lab. Wouldn’t eat the food I took him. That day the house was attacked. He lost everything. He lost all of his suits.

“He kept working on them after that but not as much. He would at least come out of the lab daily. But some of what he was working on was dangerous. Even for me. I remember one time, it would have been before the house was attacked, we were sleeping and Tony had started to have a nightmare. I was unaware of what he had been working on in his lab but when I went to touch him to wake him up, a suit attacked me. He had implants in his body that called his suit to him and he had activated it in his sleep. That was another few days in the lab fixing it. I’ve never been the biggest fan of him spending days in his lab but then when we moved in here permanently and he got three or four floors of lab space, I would go a couple of weeks at a time without seeing him. 

“Then, when The Avengers moved in, he spent so long designing them new stuff. But He’s better now. I think after I got hurt when someone was going after him, he realised that he couldn’t keep playing with the suits.”

“When did you get hurt?”

“Remember the explosion at that oil place that Tony was involved in? I was experimented on by the guy that Tony was fighting. I was then thrown into the fight and was hurt a bit in the fight. But I’m okay now.”

“Can I ask about the experiment?”

“Go ahead.” Pepper smiled at Peter.

“What was it?”

“It was a solution that could heal injuries and regrow limbs. Some people's bodies didn’t accept the solution and it killed them.”

“So you could have died?”

“Yeah,” Pepper said, nonchalantly. 

Peter wrapped his arms around Pepper’s waist.

“Peter. This was years ago, now. I’m fine.”

“I know but still. If you had died, Mr Stark wouldn’t be who he is and he probably wouldn’t have needed me at the airport and he wouldn’t be Iron-Man.”

“I guess you’re right.” 

Peter and Pepper stayed on the couch, sitting quietly, finishing off their toast. 

***

Tony got up an hour later, finding Pepper and Peter talking on the couch.

“-My first serious injury. It took me a couple of days to heal. I had school and over the days I was healing, I had Gym. I couldn’t tell Aunt May I was injured or she would ask why and I couldn’t tell her I was Spider-Man. So I had to go through Gym and normal life and we lived half-way up the building so that was a lot of stairs up and down every day. I think that because we didn’t have much food slowed down the healing too.”

Tony cleared his throat to make his presence known.

“Oh. Morning, Mr Stark.” Peter said.

“Morning Peter. Morning Pep.”

“Hey, Tony.” Pepper smiled

“How’s everyone doing?” 

“Good. Peter was just telling me different stories from being out on patrol.”

“Miss Pepper told me about the time she saved your life and in return, you blew up all your iron man suits.”

“You told him about the Killian thing.”

“A little bit.” Pepper smiled. “Not all of it. Don’t worry, Tony.” 

Tony went into the kitchen to get some coffee. He came back out to see just Pepper on the couch.

“Where’d Peter go?”

“Back to his lab, I think.”

“Did I do something?”

“Not that I know of. It might just be because everyone else is going to be waking up soon.” Pepper tried to calm Tony before a freaked out too much.

“Yeah. I should go check on him.”

“He’s okay, Tony. Just needs some time alone.”

“I’m worried about him, Pep.”

“I know. I am, too.”

“You should have heard him the other day. He was so scared.”

“Yeah. I think he got up early to avoid seeing everyone.”

“But he stayed and talked to you?” Tony questioned

“I don’t know, Tony.”

Peter spent the day hiding in the Lab, coming up with more ideas for his suit and a plan for Harleys birthday.

***

Dinner that night was a struggle. Tony decided that no matter what Peter said, he had to go to family dinner. 

Tony made his way down to the lab just before dinner was ready. 

“Hey, Peter. Dinner.” 

“Not going.”

“You don’t have a choice. You are joining us for dinner.”

“Why? Why are you forcing me to go to dinner when I just want to be left alone?”

“Why do you want to be alone?”

“Because. It’s easier.”

“How is it easier?”

“You’re not my therapist. I don’t have to tell you.” 

Tony walked over to Peter and picked him up. 

“You are coming to dinner,” Tony said as he started walking towards the door.

“Fine. But you’re not carrying me.”

“Yes, I am. I need to make sure you make it to dinner.”

Peter struggled against Tony as much as he could but Tony wouldn't let go.

“Let me go,” Peter complained.

“Nope.”

Tony made sure he carried Peter into the dining room where all the Avengers, Pepper, Harley and May were all sitting.

“Is he okay?” Harley asked, noticing Tony carrying Peter.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Can you put me down now?” Peter asked Tony.

“If you promise to sit in your seat? Please?” 

Tony put Peter down and pushed him towards his seat. Peter made sure to take his time sitting down. 

“Hey. What was that about?” Harley asked quietly once the conversation at the table had started.

“I wouldn’t leave the lab for dinner so Mr Stark picked me up and carried me,” Peter explained.

“You okay?”

“Not really.” Peter fake-smiled at Harley before turning and focusing on the food in front of him. Tony, who was sitting next to him, had filled his plate up with a range of food.

“You can't honestly expect me to eat all that,” Peter said.

“You aren’t leaving this table until you do.’

“Mr Stark. I’m 17. Not 7.”

“Then I won’t have to cut the meat for you.”

Peter sighed in annoyance but slowly began to eat. 

Peter only managed to finish half of his plate before he started to feel full. 

“I can’t eat all this,” Peter complained quietly to himself. Harley then reached over and started eating food off of Peters plate while making sure Tony wasn’t paying attention.

“You still gotta eat some more, I can’t eat all of this.” Harley smiled encouragingly at Peter.

Peter smiled back at Harley, took a deep breath and slowly began to eat.

It was another half an hour of both boys eating Peter’s dinner before it was all gone.

“I’m finished, Mr Stark. May I be excused?” Peter asked quietly.

“If you're finished, you can leave. You don’t have to ask.”

Peter got up and left, heading to the top floor. Harley decided to stay at the table, joining in the conversations. 

Peter headed straight to his bedroom, throwing himself onto the bed. He climbed under the blankets and laid there, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

***

Harley walked into the room not too much later. 

“Hey. You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter responded.

“Remember, you have that meeting tomorrow afternoon.”

“We do, yeah.”

“So you still want me there?”

“I can’t do it alone.”

“Okay.” Harley walked towards the bed and laid next to Peter. “I’m scared, Babe.” He whispered. 

“Of what?”

“I’m scared that you don’t believe you are strong enough to get through this. I’m scared that I’m not enough to help you. I’m so scared of losing you because I’m not enough.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way. I have been so caught up in my thoughts I didn’t even think of how it might be affecting you. I am so sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I understand.”

Peter and Harley laid there, both lost in their thoughts. 


	19. Chapter 19

Peter curled into Harley’s side, resting his head on Harley’s shoulder. An odd sense of calm washed over him. The two boys sat in silence for a while, both enjoying the small bit of calm. 

“They’re gonna be okay,” Peter whispered, snapping Harley out of his thoughts.

“Of course they will. Mr Stark won’t let them get hurt.” Harley reassured Peter. 

They fell back into silence. 

Peter reached over and held Harley’s hand. Every so often, Peter would squeeze his hand and hold on as if checking that Harley is actually real.

***

“Peter. Are you okay?” Peter nodded, relaxing his grip on Harley.

“Peter. I need you to talk to me. I need you to use your words.”

“I’m, uh. I’m okay. I’m fine. I’m good.” Peter stuttered out.

“Come on. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m okay.”

“Babe. I can see that you aren’t. Please tell me how to help at least.”

“I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know how you can help. I don’t even know how to help myself. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know how to fix it or get rid of it. All I know is that I’m not okay.” Peter yelled at Harley.

“Peter. I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong.” Peter took a few deep breaths.

“I keep thinking that they aren’t going to come back. At least not all of them,” He whispered.

“Peter. I promise you that all of them will come back. How about we go to the computer and check all of their vitals?” Peter nodded and allowed Harley to lead him to the nearest computer. 

Once they reached the computer and the vitals had come up on the screen, Peter relaxed slightly. They were fine. They were all okay.

“See. Everything’s okay. Nothing to worry about.” Harley said. 

They headed back to the couch, both sitting at opposite ends with their feet up. Both Peter and Harley had a stark-pad and were working on different design projects. Peter was designing a new look for his suit while Harley was planning a new robot for their lab. 

Peter stopped typing and looked up, seeing Harley completely focused on his own tablet. Peter smiled slightly and look back at his own screen. Peter could feel his breathing becoming uneven and he noticed his hands start to shake. He didn’t alert Harley, knowing that Harley would tell him everything’s fine, even when it’s not. 

Peter tried to push the feeling away and focus completely on breathing properly. He closed his eyes and thought only about the air entering and exiting his body. In doing this, he noticed his breathing getting faster and faster, no longer able to control it. Peter turned the tablet off and placed it on the arm of the couch and got up, trying to hide his attack from Harley. 

Peter went to leave, hoping to hide. 

“Hey. You okay?” Harley asked

“Yeah,” Peter replied, trying to hide the quiver in his voice.

“Okay. Where are you going?”

“Kitchen.” Peter left quickly, hoping Harley hadn’t noticed. 

Unfortunately, Harley did. Harley got up and followed Peter to the elevator. 

“Babe. What’s up?”

Peter didn’t reply, he just turned around and threw himself into Harley’s arms. 

“Hey. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Just try and breathe for me.” Peter tried to breathe. 

“In, two, three, four, Out, two, three, four,” Harley whispered, encouraging Peter. Peter tried to follow the instructions Harley was giving but he couldn’t. 

He was no longer breathing properly. His thoughts were racing. The lights in the hallway were blinding. His heart pounded in his ears. It was too much. Tears started streaming down Peter’s face. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y! What do I do?” Harley asked desperately.

“I suggest you keep trying to get him to breathe and relax. If you can, take him to the elevator.” F.R.I.D.A.Y said. 

Harley gently lifted Peter, still whispering in his ear.

“Come on. Breathe. You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay. We’ll make sure of it.” Harley made it to the elevator and as soon as he and Peter were in, it started moving. 

The doors opened onto the shared lounge. Harley took Peter to the couch and found the softest blanket, spreading it over Peter. 

“Peter. Can you hear me? Focus on my voice.” 

Peter nodded. 

“Okay. Is it okay if I touch you?” Peter nodded again. 

“If at any point you want me to stop, I want you to shake your head, understand?” Once again, Peter nodded. 

Harley sat next to Peter and wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders.

“Is this okay?” Peter nodded. 

Harley started humming songs that he’s heard Peter listen to on countless occasions. Then he got an idea. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y? Could you put on Peters main playlist of music, please?”

“Of course.” the music filled the room. Peter closed his eyes and lost himself in the music. Harley felt Peter begin to relax and smiled slightly to himself. 

They sat there for close to 2 hours, the music filling their absence of conversation. Peter was now cuddled up to Harley and Harley was almost asleep. 

“Team has arrived back,” F.R.I.D.A.Y announced. Harley snapped awake. 

“Status?” Peter asked.

“Miss Romanoff is injured. No other injuries sustained.”

“Is she okay?” 

“Miss Romanoff seems to be stable. She is going to the med-bay. The team is on its way to you.”

As F.R.I.D.A.Y fell silent, the elevator door opened. Tony walked into the room first, relaxing slightly when he saw Peter and Harley. 

“Are you two okay? Did anything happen while we were out?” 

“Peter may have had a minor anxiety attack but I handled it,” Harley replied.

Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, holding him in a tight hug. “It’s okay, Kid ” Tony whispered into Peter's ear. 

“I know. Is Auntie Nat okay?”

“Yeah. Just a minor injury. She’s getting fixed up now.”

Everyone sat on the seats spread around the room, relaxing after the fight. 

“Debrief in an hour or two. Peter, you can come if you’d like, ” Steve said.

“Maybe,” Peter mumbled. 

Everyone stayed where they were, each of them too tired to move. Peter’s music was still playing, filling the silence. 

Peter dragged himself off the couch, Harley quickly following him to the kitchen. 

“You better?” Harley asked once they were hidden away in the kitchen. 

“Yeah. Sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I understand that this just happens sometimes.” 

“But I wish it wouldn’t.”

“I know, babe. But it does. Doesn’t make you any less awesome, though.”

“I can’t go on patrol. I am no longer Spider-Man. I can’t even handle sitting at home alone. I clearly demonstrated that today. What if I have to go back to school and I have an attack in class? Or when I’m allowed back out on patrol, I just keep having attacks?”

“You’ll be okay. You are one of the strongest people I know. After everything you have been through, you’re still standing here with me.”

Peter relaxed slightly, wrapping his arms around Harley’s waist. 

“I would be nowhere near this state if it weren’t for you.” 

Harley wrapped his arms around Peter’s shoulders, the boys just holding each other close. 

***

“Hey. Sorry to disturb but I’m grabbing some snacks before team debrief.” Clint said, walking into the room. 

“Okay. Am I still allowed at the debriefing?”

“I believe so.” 

Clint grabbed a packet of biscuits from the cupboard before leaving the kitchen. 

“You sure you want to go?”

“Yeah. Mr Stark will be there if I need him. And the whole team knows that I have anxiety so… I guess they could also help.”

“Okay. Just… If you need me, ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to get me. I don’t mind.”

“I know. I’ll be okay.” Peter reassured Harley for what felt like the millionth time. They had slowly made their way to the elevator so that Peter could join the team for the debriefing. Peter gave Harley’s hands one last squeeze before stepping into the elevator. 

Peter stepped out of the elevator, took a deep breath, then walked into the room where the team was sitting. He silently sat in the only open seat, between Tony and Natasha. The meeting began.

Peter wasn’t listening much. He quickly realised that hearing about his family getting hurt caused him a lot of anxiety. He tuned in once Tony stood to talk.

“I managed to get some information while we were there.” He began.

“I hacked a computer and it had records of everyone involved, their targets and their plans.”

“Who’s at risk?” Steve asked.

“Us. We are the targets. They have an army spread around the country, all ready to catch a plane if they need to fight us somewhere overseas, waiting to kill us. They all have the order to kill on sight.”

“You said you also had their plans. What were they?” Bucky spoke up.

“I believe that they want to use manipulation. Kill us off and paint themselves as the heroes. Let the world forget about us. They have files on us about all the bad we’ve done. I’m all linked back to the old Stark Industries. Steve, a lot of reports from enemy troops that survived your attacks in the war. A lot of reports from enemies on all of us. Natasha-”

“-My childhood,” she mumbled. Tony nodded.

Peter felt himself starting to shake again. His leg started bouncing under the table, his fingers quivering in his lap. His breathing quickened and he suddenly wanted to throw up.

Natasha reached out a hand and placed it gently on Peter’s arm. He jumped slightly before realising who it was. He turned in his seat to look at her, smiling slightly in thanks. 

Natasha gave Peter a questioning look, silently asking if he was okay. Peter nodded in response, praying she couldn’t sense the lie but secretly hoping she could. 

Natasha squeezed his arm slightly in comfort before letting go. 

Peter sat there, trying his best to control his breathing, hoping the others at the table didn’t notice. 

Peter was too tired to have another attack. He was absolutely exhausted. But his heart still pounded in his chest and his breathing still quickened. 

Peter twisted his fingers together and tried to block his hearing. He could hear Steves breathing, heavier than everyone else’s. He could hear uncle Rhodes’ slight moans as he re-adjusted himself in his seat. He could hear Tony’s hands moving as he signed alone with what he was saying, making sure Clint knew what was going on. He heard Bucky sliding his foot along the ground and Pepper’s heels clicking on the floor above them. All these small sounds invaded Peter’s mind. 

“Peter? Are you okay?” Peter looked up from the table. Everyone was looking at him as Tony kneeled beside him. 

“Peter? Can you hear me?” Peter nodded. “Are you okay?” Peter nodded again. 

“Sorry. I guess I just got lost in my own mind.”

“Do you need to leave?” Tony asked worriedly. 

“No. I’m okay,” Peter reassured him.

Peter looked around as everyone was having little private conversations, noticing how everyone was glancing at him. 

“Peter. How are you?” Natasha asked.

“I’m good. How’s your injury?”

“It’s good. A little sore still but I’ll live.” Natasha smiled at Peter.

“What happened?” 

“I just got distracted while fighting and someone came at me with a knife.” 

“Oh my- Are you okay?”

“Yeah. As I said. A little sore. Are you okay, though?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Really? I heard you had an anxiety attack while we were out and as far as I can tell, you almost had one just now.”

“As I said to Mr Stark. Just got lost in my own head.”

“Peter,” Natasha’s tone softened. “You were hyperventilating and shaking,” Natasha explained gently.

“Really?” Peter asked. Natasha nodded. 

“Yeah. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“So you knew you were close to an attack?”

“Yeah. I could feel it. I thought I could fight it off though. I didn’t mean to interrupt the meeting.”

“It’s okay. You're not the first person to have an anxiety attack during team debrief.”

***

Peter and Harley spent the evening in their room. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Are you able to alert me if Peter is ever having an attack while in the tower, please?” 

“Babe. Why? I’m usually fine when it happens. Maybe a little tired, but fine.”

“I want to be there to help you. I don’t like the thought of you suffering on your own.”

“Whatever. I’ll be fine, though.”

They stayed there quietly, both slowly drifting off to sleep. 


	20. Chapter 20

It’s now been a week and a half since Peter’s big panic attack at school. He has cut Ned out completely and has seen a therapist once.

Peter was… Emotional. 

While relaxing in the lounge on the private floor, Peter asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to play the news in the background. As he typed away on the tablet he had, the news began a new report. 

_ “Back to the case of Spider-Man’s disappearance. After being gone for a while, Spider-Man comes back only to vanish again. Is Spider-Man abandoning Queens now that he lives with the Avengers?” _

Peter looked up at the TV. On the screen was someone on the street, about to report.

“ _ We have asked some citizens on the streets in Queens today what they think of the disappearance. _ ” 

_ “I feel abandoned by Spider-Man. I haven’t been attacked but my neighbour was attacked and Spider-Man could have stopped it.”  _ The camera cuts to someone else

“ _ He’s right to leave. The crime rate in Queens has dropped a lot thanks to him. Now it’s up to the police to deal with the rest.”  _ Peter looked away, about to ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to change the channel when a familiar voice filled the room.

_ “Spider-Man is childish and needs to grow up. No real man would have anxiety attacks while he’s meant to be protecting people. GROW UP, SPIDER-MAN.”  _ Ned was talking to the reporter.

The tv screen went black and instead, some music filled the room.

“Are you okay, Peter?” F.R.I.D.A.Y asked.

“Yeah. I’m good, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where’s Mr Stark?”

“Tony is in his lab. Would you like me to contact him?”

“No thanks. Where’s Harley?”

“Harley is also in his lab. Would you like me to contact him?”

“No thanks.”

Peter got up from the couch and made his way to the labs. He walked past the door to Tony’s lab and instead went straight to his lab. He walked in to see Harley drawing out plans over a bench in the corner of the room. He looked up as the door opened and smiled. 

“Hey, Babe.” Peter smiled at Harley in response. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter mumbled. 

Peter walked over to the bench Harley was working at. 

“What you working on?”

“A friend for Buster.”

“Another dog or something else?”

“Not sure. I have a few ideas, a couple of them dogs.”

“Cool. Need any help?”   
“Yeah. Could you check over these to make sure it’s okay?”

“Sure.” Peter quickly lost himself in the ideas Harley had drawn out, completely forgetting about what Ned had said on the news. 

The two of them worked in silence for a while, the occasional paper shuffle disturbing the silence. 

“Peter and Harley. Tony Stark is looking for you both.”

“Let him know where we are,” Harley replied.

“You can ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to not tell Mr Stark where you are?”

“Yeah. It was easy. I just asked her.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“She probably won’t conceal your location from us, though.”

“Why not?”

“Really. Do you have to ask?”

“It’s because of my anxiety, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” 

At that, Tony walked into the room.

“Hey, boys. What are you working on?”

“A friend for Buster,” Harley said.

“Cool. Dinner upstairs in 10 minutes,” Tony said before walking out of the room.

Peter and Harley slowly cleared their papers away before making their way up for dinner. The reason why Peter was in the lab in the first place hit Peter like a tonne of bricks. He was suddenly crouched on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Woah. Hey. What’s happened?” Harley asked. 

“Ned. On TV. Spider-Man.” Peter stutterd out. 

“Come on. Let’s go see Mr Stark.” Harley helped Peter back to an upright position and led him out of the lab and towards the elevator. Harley made sure to keep one hand placed on Peter’s mid-back and one holding his hand. Peter relaxed slightly but was still breathing heavily. 

“Can you talk?” Harley asked. Peter shook his head. 

“Did you see something on the news?” Peter nodded.

“Was it about Ned?” Peter shook his head.

“About Spider-Man?” Peter nodded.

“Was it Ned talking about Spider-Man?” Harley asked after a few moments of quiet. Peter nodded. Tears started falling down his face. 

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Did Ned say that you were Spider-Man?” Peter shook his head. 

“That’s good. He clearly doesn’t want to destroy you.”

“Childish. Grow up.” Peter whispered.

“Is that what Ned said about Spider-Man?” Peter nodded. 

The boys had reached the private floor by now. No one was in sight.

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Is it family dinner tonight?” Harley asked.

“Yes, Harley. You should be on the social floor. I have already called for Tony to come here, though.”

“Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

With that, Tony walked into the room. 

“Hey, What’s going on?” Tony asked Harley. He then noticed Peter who has curled up on the couch, still crying. 

“Hey, Kiddo. Come on. What’s going on?” Tony rushed over to Peter and held him close. 

“News. Ned. Grow up. Spider-Man.” Peter was still not breathing properly. His breathing was jerky and uneven. Tony was rubbing his back gently, whispering in his ear. 

“Harley. Go to dinner and just let the team know that we probably won't be joining them.”

“Okay. You sure?” 

“Yeah.” 

Harley walked to the elevator and headed down to dinner.

“Peter and Mr Stark won’t be joining us for dinner tonight, unfortunately,” Harley said as he sat down.

“Is Peter okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah. He’s okay.” 

“Really? That’s why, as soon as F.R.I.D.A.Y asked Tony to go upstairs because there was a problem with Peter, he literally ran?”

“Yeah. It’s sorted now.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say, sorry.” 

Everyone nodded in understanding then went back to their dinner. Natasha, who was sitting next to Harley, whispered in his ear.

“Did Peter have another anxiety attack?” Harley nodded.

“Was it because of the news?” Harley nodded again.

“That was his friend on the news, right?” 

“No. That’s not Peter’s friend.” Harley said angrily.

“Hey, Thor? Is Loki on Earth at all?” Harley asked, ending his conversation.

“Yes. He is. I am making sure he doesn’t cause any problems, though.”

“You could invite him over. I would love to meet him.” 

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea, actually. At least if he’s here, we can all keep an eye on him,” Steve said. 

Dinner finished a while later. Harley went back upstairs to find Peter and Tony on the couch, talking. 

“Hey. You guys want some food?” Harley asked. 

“Yeah. I’m starving,” Tony replied.

“I’ll go make some sandwiches. They ate all the food that was out for dinner.”

Harley left for the kitchen. 

“Did you go and see that therapist the other day?” Tony asked.

“Yeah.”

“You wanna talk about how it went?”

“He’s really nice. I feel comfortable. It’s good. We didn’t really talk about much.” 

“I made sure that he can’t tell anyone about Spider-Man. He knows that you are and he is trained to deal with anxiety attacks and stuff. He’s fine with Harley being there but will not hesitate to ask him to leave if needed, okay?” 

“Got it. He said to talk to you about booking appointments and stuff. I just haven't had the chance.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“Yeah. I really want to get better.”

“That’s good.” 

Harley walked back in, carrying a plate full of sandwiches. 

Tony and Peter ate the sandwiches as Harley slowly started cleaning up. 

“Hey, Mr Stark? Have we been officially removed from the school roll?” Harley asked

“No. I have talked to May about removing Peter but I want you to at least try and finish this year.”

“So I have to go to school on my own?”

“Surely you have friends other than Peter.” 

“Yeah. One. MJ.”

“See. You two can have fun.”

“Alright. Well. If I have school tomorrow, then I’d better go to bed. Night.” 

Harley walked off to his room. 

“Everything okay, Peter?”

“Yeah. Sorry for making you miss dinner.”

“It’s okay, Kiddo. I wasn’t really in the mood to hang out with the team anyway.” Tony smiled at Peter.

“Mr Stark. I kinda want to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Please don’t get angry or anything.”

“I won’t, kid.”

“I wanted to give something to you that you might not accept from me.”

“What is it?”

“I just gotta go get it.” Peter got up and ran to his room. 

He returned a minute later with a paper bag. 

“Here.” Peter gave Tony the bag. Tony opened the bag. 

“No. Peter. You know I can’t take this. It’s yours.”

“I can’t have it.”

“Why?”

“Have you seen the news? Even if things get better, I can’t go back out.”

“Peter. I’m not letting you give up the suit. If there is a big mission that we need you for, we will need you in your suit. You can’t wear it if it’s collecting dust in the labs or something.”

“But that won’t be for ages. I am not ready to go back out on either missions or patrol. I won’t need that suit for at least a few months.”

“So keep it. You will need it once you’re ready.”

“No. I don’t think I will be going back out.”

“Peter.”

“No. Sorry to disappoint, Mr Stark, but the community doesn’t want Spider-Man.”

Peter left the room, leaving the paper bag with his Spider-Man suit behind. 

Peter went to his old room, sitting with Aunt May.

“I got rid of the suit. I can’t go back out.”

“Why, baby?”

“I saw the news. They don’t want me back.” 

“That’s just a bunch of people looking for attention. They don’t mean what they were saying.”

“Ned was on the news, too. Talking about Spider-Man.”

“Really? What was he saying?”

“He said that I need to grow up. That no real man has an anxiety attack while I’m supposed to be protecting people.”

“Ned’s upset and jealous. He doesn’t mean what he said.”

“He does. It’s Ned. You know he wouldn’t say that unless he meant it. Even on TV.” 

“It’s okay, Peter. “

Peter curled up next to May.

“I still miss him. Uncle Ben, I mean,” Peter whispered

“Me too.”   
May wrapped her arms around Peter’s small frame. 

“Everything of his is gone. We can’t get any of it back.”

“I know. We just have to rely on memories now.”

May and Peter laid on the bed together, crying over the events of the past few months. 

“Aunt May? I went to see a therapist the other day.” Peter hesitantly spoke up. “It really helped me. Being able to talk to someone who isn’t that close to me.”

“That’s great.”

“I was thinking that, um, maybe you could try it out. Mr Stark has said that he will pay and everything so all we have to do is turn up.”

“I don’t know. I’m a trained nurse. Part of what I did to prepare at school was teach myself how to deal with this. I shouldn’t have to go see a therapist.”

“Please? At least try?”

“I don’t know, Peter.”

“Just try. Please. I’m scared that you’ll find that you can’t leave this room anymore and that you’ll let yourself waste away. Please just try. For me?”

“Maybe.”

“For Uncle Ben?”

May sighed. 

“I don’t know. I’ll try to talk to Tony about it later. How’s that?”

“Good.” Peter smiled at May.

May and Peter sat in silence for a while longer. May had slowly drifted off to sleep while Peter was still awake. After laying still for what felt like a lifetime, Peter gently climbed out of bed, He slowly made his way to the lounge. Tony was still sitting there.

“Hey, Kid.” Peter smiled slightly in response. “You okay?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. Just tired.”

“Go to bed, then.” 

“Just getting some water. Then I will.”

“Alright. Night, Peter.”

“Night, Mr Stark.”

  
  


The next morning, Peter woke up to the sound of F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice. 

“Time to get up for school. Breakfast is in the kitchen.” Peter moaned in annoyance.

“You don’t have to get up for school. You can go back to sleep. Stop complaining,” Harley said grumpily.

“I’m still getting up. I’ve been woken so that’s it.”

“Babe. I know you were up late last night. Just try and go back to sleep.”

“I’m gonna have to get up at some point, right? Better now than later.”

“Whatever. Breakfast?” 

“Yeah.” 

Peter and Harley both made their way to the kitchen. Breakfast as waiting for them on the bench.

“I think I have another therapy meeting today.”

“What time?”

“I think about 4.”

“I should be here for that.”

“I don’t really want you there.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just, Why not?”

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to help me work on my mental health or anything. I feel that you knowing what I’m thinking and feeling is going to make you want to help me more and that might not be the best thing for me.”

“Okay. that’s alright. I understand.” 

Harley finished his breakfast quickly and went to get ready for school. Peter was still sitting at the table, slowly eating his food. 

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Do I have an appointment today?”

“Yes, you do.” 

“What time?”

“3:30 this afternoon.”

“Can it be rescheduled?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Peter stayed at the table with an empty plate in front of him, lost in thought.

“Alright. I’m off. Bye.” Harley pecked Peter on the lips, bringing him back to reality.

“Oh. Bye.” Peter smiled at Harley’s retreating figure. 

Peter slowly cleared his plate from the table and put it in the dishwasher. Deciding to actually get dressed today, Peter went to have a shower.

After his shower, Peter went to his lab. 

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Let me know when it’s 3, please.”

“Of course, Peter.”

Peter then pulled out his plans for a gift for Harley. He spent the next few hours perfecting it and adding new ideas to it. After a few hours, Peter was sure he was ready to make it. He just needed Tony to look over the plans to make sure it was good.

“Where’s Mr Stark?” Peter asked out of nowhere.

“He is in his lab. Would you like me to tell him you are looking for him?”

“No thanks.” Peter grabbed his notebook and the papers he had drawn and written on and headed to Tony’s lab. 

  
  


“Mr Stark? Can I ask your opinion on something?”

“Hey, Kid. Go ahead.”

“I’ve been drawing up plans for a new watch for Harley. I want to know if this will work and if you think there is anything I should change.”

“Why can’t you just buy him one?”

“I’ve created it so it links to another one and it can track our vitals and alert the other if we are in danger or something.”

“That’s really clever.” 

“Thanks.” Peter put the paper’s on the bench in front of Tony. “These are my plans.”

After a few minutes of silence as Tony studied the papers, he spoke up. “This is amazing, Kid. You need help building these?”

“Yeah. That’d be great.”

“Not today, though. It’s almost three meaning Harley will be home soon and you have an appointment today.”

“Okay. Tomorrow?”

“We’ll try.” 

“Thanks, Mr Stark.” 

Peter grabbed the plans and ran back to his lab, making sure to hide them away safely. 

Peter stayed in the labs, choosing to just relax on the couch. It was roughly half an hour later when Harley walked in. 

“Hey, Babe.” Harley walked over and leaned down, placing a light kiss on Peter’s cheek. “Was everything okay today?”

“Yeah. I spent the day in here.”

“What could you have been doing that you spent all day in here?” Harley joked

“Just mucking around. Playing with different ideas.”

“You have your meeting soon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure you don’t want me there?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Harley smiled at Peter, hoping he couldn’t detect the slight disappointment in his voice.

Peter left Harley sitting in the lab as he went off to his appointment. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y? Where’s Harley?” Peter asked after his appointment.

“Harley is on the shared floor.”

“Who else is with him?”

“Captain Rogers, Mr Barnes, Miss Romanoff, Tony and Mr Barton. Would you like me to alert them of your arrival?”

“No thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Peter walked to the elevator and went to the private floor. Once the elevator was open, he walked to his room. He lay on his bed, hoping no one would walk in.

“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Could you play my playlist of music, please.”

“Of course, Peter.” the music filled the air. Peter stayed on the bed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

***

“Hey, Mr Stark. Would Peter’s meeting be finished by now?” Harley asked.

“Probably,” he replied. “Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y, Where’s Peter?”

“Peter is in his room.”

“Could you ask him to come here?”

“He is asleep. I do not wish to wake him.”

“How long has he been asleep?”

“A few minutes.”

“Thanks, Hun.” 

  
  


“When’s dinner?” Harley asked the group.

“When someone orders it.”

“What does everyone want?” Steve asked. 

“I’m not Hungry. I’ll just eat whatever gets ordered.” Peter answered as he walked into the room.

“Hey, babe. Sleep okay?” Harley asked. 

“Yeah.”

“You are eating a full meal, Peter,” Tony instructed. 

“I’m not hungry, though,” Peter complained.

“I don’t care. You’re still eating a full meal.”

“I don’t need to. I’m not going out or getting hurt or anything like that.”

“Just because you aren’t using your powers doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be eating properly. You are still superhuman.”

“Whatever. I still don’t mind what we have for dinner though.”

***

Pepper walked into the shared lounge carrying bags of food. 

“Instead of getting it delivered, you make me go and pick it up. Couldn't you have at least sent the boys to get it? Or are there not enough men around to carry it all?” Pepper complained as she started laying out all the food.

“Sorry, Pep. It was easier for you to pick it up.” Tony smiled at Pepper. 

“Whatever.” Pepper grabbed her small box of food and seated herself on one of the couches. Everyone else then raced to fill their plates up. Peter was in and out quickly and then seated himself next to Pepper. May, who had joined everyone for dinner that night, sat on Peter’s other side with a small plate of food.

“You can get more, May. These guys won’t starve,” Pepper said.

“No. It’s okay.” May smiled at Pepper. 

Once dinner was over, everyone went their separate ways. Peter and Harley were left to clean up after the superheroes.

“Really? You would think that at least Captain America could put his rubbish in the bin, right?”

“Yeah. Or Dr Banner, who is currently trying to protect the planet  ecologically , could dispose of his trash.” 

“Guess being a superhero is more important than that.”

“Yeah. Guess so.” Peter and Harley continued to pick up the plates and takeaway containers that were littering the room.

“Hey. You wanna talk about your meeting earlier?”

“Not really.”

“Okay. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” 

Harley, not wanting to push, left the conversation at that.

After a few minutes of silence, Peter spoke up.

“I know it may seem like I’m hiding how I’m feeling from you but I’m not. Or at least I am but I have a reason for it. I don’t want to damage your mental health because you feel pressured to heal mine.”

“It’s fine, Babe. I understand.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The two of them finished cleaning everything up then headed to bed. 


	21. Chapter 21

“Hey. When’s your next meeting?” Harley looked up from the papers in front of him.

“In a couple of days.” Peter kept his eyes fixed on the plans in the notebook he had. 

“You want me there?”

“Not really. Sorry.” Peter scribbled something on the paper. 

“It’s okay. What are you working on?”

“Nothing.” Peter closed the notebook and stood from the seat. “I’m gonna go look for food. Want anything?”

“Nah. I’m good. Thanks though.” Peter leant down and placed a kiss on Harley’s cheek before leaving the lab. He bumped into Tony at the door. 

“Hey, Mr Stark.” 

“Hey, Peter. I was just looking for you two.”

“Really? What for?” 

“It’s dinner time.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. You kids have been down here for a few hours now.”

“Okay. We’ll be right up, I guess.” Tony turned around and headed back to the elevator. 

Peter turned and poked his head back into the lab. 

“Babe. It’s dinner time.”

“Wow. Alright. Gimme a sec to clear this up.” Peter stood in the doorway as Harley collected his papers and stacked them tidily on the bench. 

“Dinner.” Harley declared. 

The two boys held each other's hands as they waited in the elevator. They walked out into the shared lounge. They heard voices from the dining room. In the dining room was the team along with May and Pepper. 

“We have team training here in a couple of days. More talking and team building.” Natasha informed the group at the table. 

“Do we have to be there? Can’t we all just trust each other?” Tony complained.

“It’s more than just trusting each other. It’s getting to know each other.” 

“Sounds like fun,” Tony said sarcastically. 

A light conversation continued throughout dinner. 

Once dinner was over and everyone had cleaned up, Tony declared a movie night. 

“I can’t, sorry. I still have school tomorrow. I would love to stay here with you guys.” Harley said.

“You’re still sending him to school? He built a robot for himself. I don't think he needs school,” Steve said jokingly. 

“It’s a legal requirement. If it was up to me, I would pull him out.”

“It is up to you, Mr Stark.”

“Not completely. Pepper has a say in it too and she said you had to stay at school. Sorry, Kid.” 

Harley rolled his eyes, placed a kiss on Peter’s cheek, then headed towards the elevator. 

“Night,” Tony called from the couch.

“Night,” Harley yelled back.

Peter went to bed after one movie, claiming he was tired. He went to his room, got into his pyjamas, then climbed into bed. Harley was still awake.

“Hey. You alright?” Harley asked, snuggling up to Peter.

“Yeah. I’m good.” Peter said, taking a deep breath.

“Sure? Movie nights usually last a lot longer than this.”

“Just didn’t want to watch the movies. Wasn’t really in the mood.”

“You missed me too much,” Harley whispered jokingly.

“Something like that,” Peter replied.

“You sure you’re okay?” 

“Yeah. I promise.” Peter snuggled into Harley’s side, trying to sleep. 

“Night, Peter,” Harley whispered into the quiet room. 

Peter laid awake for what felt like forever. Once he was sure Harley was asleep, he snuck out of bed. He went to the kitchen, hoping no one was around. He made himself a hot chocolate then headed to the lab, intentionally ignoring the clocks. 

Once Peter reached the lab, he was a lot more awake. He picked up the notebook and papers he had left on the bench last time he was there. He flipped to a new page and started sketching. 

It was a few hours later when F.R.I.D.A.Y startled Peter. 

“Peter. It’s currently 1 am. I suggest you go to bed.”

“No. is anyone awake?”

“Tony is awake. Would you like me to inform him that you are here?”

“No, thank you. Could you play some quiet music?”

“Sure. Anything else?” 

“No. It’s okay. Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Peter’s music filled the empty air as he worked. 

“Peter. It is now 4 am. I suggest you go to bed.” Peter ignored F.R.I.D.A.Y and kept typing on his StarkPad. 

“Peter. It is time for bed.”

“No, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Harley will be woken in a couple of hours and if you are still up when he gets woken, he will try to stay home to make sure you are okay.”

“I’ll go to bed soon. I promise.”

“Peter. It is now 5 am. Bed.” F.R.I.D.A.Y interrupted Peter.

“Alright. I’m going. Is Mr Stark still up?”

“No. He went to bed an hour ago.” 

“Okay.” Peter slowly cleaned his stuff up and walked to the elevator. The elevator doors opened to reveal a worried Harley.

“Hey. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Peter asked.

“Could ask you the same thing.”

“I couldn’t sleep so I came down here to play around with some ideas. Why are you up?”

“I don’t know. I woke up a few minutes ago and you weren’t in bed. When I checked the time, I was worried.”

“I’m okay. Just couldn’t sleep. That’s all.” 

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“I don’t know. Just couldn’t.” Peter walked past Harley into the elevator. Harley followed him in. They went back up to the private floor. 

Peter walked straight towards the kitchen when the elevator doors opened. 

“Bed, Peter. You shouldn’t be up at this time.” Harley followed Peter. 

“You shouldn’t be up either. Yet here we are.” 

“Babe. Please.”

“Harley. Just go to bed. You have to get up for school in an hour. I can sleep all day if I need to.”

“But it isn’t healthy.” 

“Oh well. Nothing in my life has ever been healthy. Even as a child, I was up late.”

“I’m just worried, Peter.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m gonna grab a glass of water then I’ll come to bed. I promise.”

Harley stayed standing there a moment longer, looking at Peter worriedly, before sighing and going to bed.

Peter did just as he said he would. He had a glass of water then went back to bed. He and Harley laid on the bed, neither of them tired. 

“Are you okay?” Peter asked.

“Yeah. I’m good. Are you?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Peter smiled and relaxed slightly. 

“Harley. It is time to get up for school,” F.R.I.D.A.Y announced. Harley laid in bed a while longer, not wanting to disturb Peter, who had drifted off to sleep. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Is there any way you can scan to see if Peter is sleeping?”

“He is sleeping. If you move gently, he should stay asleep.” Harley slowly moved, making sure not to wake Peter. 

Harley crept around the room, slowly getting ready for school. 

Harley was sitting at the island in the kitchen when Peter walked out, half asleep. 

“Hey. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“I was but I can’t sleep without you,” Peter mumbled. 

“Did you have a nightmare?” Harley asked softly.

Peter didn’t say anything. He just nodded his head slightly and sat down. The sound of approaching footsteps made Peter sit up straight and plaster a smile on his face. 

“Morning, Miss Pepper.” Peter smiled at Pepper.

“Good morning, Peter. Good morning, Harley.” 

“Morning,” Harley said, still watching Peter worriedly.

“Everything okay?” Pepper asked. 

“Yeah,” Harley replied. 

Pepper raised her eyebrows at the boys but didn’t say anything more. 

Harley cleaned his dishes off and was about to leave for school. Peter was sitting on the couch in the lounge. 

“Hey, babe. I’m leaving soon.”

Peter looked up. “Huh. Oh. Okay.” He looked back at the book he was reading. 

Harley walked over to Peter, dropping his school bag next to the couch. 

“C’ mon, babe. What’s up?” 

“Nothing. I’m good.” 

“No. You aren’t. Can you talk to me?”

“I’m good. I promise.” Peter smiled at Harley.

“Please stop lying to me, Peter. It hurts more knowing you aren’t okay and lying about it than knowing you aren’t okay and you telling me.” 

“I promise you, Harley. I am okay.”

“I know you aren’t. If you don’t want to talk to me about it, then tell someone.”

“I have an appointment today. It’s okay.”

“You wanna hang out in the lab together after school?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Peter smiles slightly at Harley. “You should be heading to school now. Don’t keep Mr Happy waiting.”

“Yeah. See you after school.” Harley kissed Peter before grabbing his bag and rushing to the elevator.

“Bye. Love you,” Peter whispered after the elevator doors had closed.

  
  


Peter lost himself in the book he was reading. He heard people moving around in the room but he didn’t look up.

“Hey, Peter.” a familiar voice snapped him away from the book.

“Huh, Oh. uh. Hey.” it was the therapist.

“I know I’m early today. Sorry. My last appointment was cancelled so I thought I would come here early.”

“How did you get up here?”

“The elevator.”

“It’s supposed to be private. Only six people have permission to come up here. F.R.I.D.A.Y? Is that right?” 

“Don’t worry, Peter. Tony has permitted Mr Paltrow to enter this floor.”

“Okay. Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“How have you been, Peter?”

***

Mr Paltrow packed up his things and left after almost two hours. He bumped into Harley on the ground floor.

“Hey, Mr Paltrow.” Harley smile at the man.

“Hello, Harley. How have you been?”

“I’m good. Could I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“How is Peter?”

“What do you mean?”

“He keeps telling me he’s okay or he’s good. I know he isn’t though.”

“I can’t tell you much, Harley. I can only say you are doing a great job and just keep doing what you’re doing and it might help.”

“Okay. Thank you, Mr Paltrow.” Harley smiled at him again and headed towards the elevator.

“Hey, Peter? You in here?” Harley called as he stepped out of the elevator into the private lounge. 

“Hey. How was school?” Peter asked as he walked out of the kitchen. 

“Eh. It was okay. Kinda missed you though.”

“Missed you, too.”

“Ned tried to talk to me today.” Harley sat on the couch, motioning for Peter to join him.

“Really? What happened?”

“I’m just going to say it isn’t my fault that he has a black eye. That’s all.” Harley smiled at Peter who was trying not to laugh.

“Harley. I thought we weren’t going to do anything about him.”

“Hey. He approached me and tried talking to me. I just got him to leave me alone.” 

“What if he was trying to apologise?”

“Doesn’t matter. After what he said, he doesn’t have the right to talk to me. Or you.” Neither of them was laughing now.

“Did you at least get a picture of his reaction?”

“No. But I think MJ might have drawn him in the nurse's office.”

“I’ll have to ask her for a copy.” They were smiling again. 

“I saw Mr Paltrow in the lobby.” Harley’s voice filled the silence in the room. Peter, who was now lying with his head on Harley’s lap, looked up at Harley. 

“Really? Did he say anything to you?” 

“Only that I should keep supporting you and stuff.”

“You make it sound like you weren’t planning on supporting me any longer,” Peter mumbled.

“Pardon?” 

“Nothing,” Peter said, louder this time.

“Peter. I will always support you. I love you so much. I will be by your side until I can’t be any longer.” 

“Stop. You’re going to make me cry.” 

“No crying. Dinner.” Tony walked into the room, scaring both teenagers. 

“Be there in a minute,” Harley said. 

“Maybe,” Peter whispered.

Once Tony had left, Peter sat up. “Can you just tell them I fell asleep or I was tired or something?”

“No. You have to come to dinner.”

“I’m not hungry though.”

“I don’t care. You still have to eat.” 

“No. I’m just gonna go to bed. I’ll eat later.” 

“Don’t make me get Mr Stark or Miss Natasha up here.”

“Get them. They can’t convince me to eat either.” 

“Okay. I’ll go get Miss Pepper.” 

“No. Don’t disturb her. She works hard every day. She should just eat dinner then relax. She doesn’t have to come to get me for dinner.”

“You going to come down for dinner?”

“Fine.” Peter dragged himself off the couch and made his way to the elevator. 

***

After dinner, Tony announced another movie night. 

“I can’t, sorry, Mr Stark. You’re still sending me to school.” Harley sighed and gathered the empty plates from the table.

“I’m going to bed. Sorry, Mr Stark. I’m tired.” Peter helped Harley clear the table before both of them headed to the elevator. 

“Both of you are leaving me? Stuck with this lot?” Tony asked jokingly.

“Hey. You’re the one who suggested a movie night,” Steve said defensively.

“I guess. Night, boys. Don’t stay up too late, please.” Tony called to the retreating figures of the teens. 

“You okay?” Harley asked as they were laying in bed.

“Yeah.” 

“I’m worried, Peter. What are you thinking about?”

“Sleep?” 

“I know you aren’t tired, Peter.” Harley sat up and looked at him. “What’s going on?”

“I just. Uhm. I can’t really. Ugh.” Peter threw his head onto the pillow.

“It’s okay. Take your time.”

Peter took a deep breath. “My thoughts are constantly screaming in my head and I can’t shut them up.”

“What are they saying?”

Peter shook his head violently.

“You don’t want to say?” Peter shook his head again. 

“Nope. I can’t,” Peter said.

“That’s okay. Just. when you feel comfortable, let me know.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“I’m sorry but what do you mean ‘maybe’?”

“I just don’t know if I should.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want you to suffer because of what I’ve done.”

“You haven’t done anything. A lot of bad has happened to you but you haven’t done anything.”

“Okay. I’m going to try and sleep. Night.” 

“Night, Peter,” Harley whispered.

Peter spent the day in the labs. He had his notebook and some papers spread over one of the benches and he was working on something on a neighbouring bench. He seemed to be almost finished. 

Tony walked into Peter’s lab, being as quiet as he could. He snuck over to where Peter was working and placed a plate of food next to him.

“Stop. Eat,” Tony commanded.

“Not hungry. Almost finished,” Peter mumbled in response.

“You have to eat, Peter. F.R.I.D.A.Y told me you didn’t eat breakfast and you don’t have snacks in here at the moment. Eat.”

“I’m not hungry. I’ll be fine.”

“Peter,” Tony moved closer to the boy and softened his voice. “You have to eat. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel hungry.”

“I’m not eating, Mr Stark. I can eat once I’m finished here.”

“What are you working on?”

“Those plans I showed you a while ago that you said you would help me with. I worked out the small things that I needed help with and I’ve been working on it myself. I’m almost finished.”

“Do you think you could stop for 5 minutes and eat a little bit?”

“Nope. Busy.”

“Come on, Kid.”

“Give me maybe half an hour, then I’ll eat.”

“I’m going to stay here until you eat even if it takes half an hour.”

“Whatever,” Peter mumbled. He ignored Tony’s presence and continued working. 

  
  


After forcing Peter to eat, Tony left the labs. 

Peter stayed in the lab, testing the watch he had made. It worked. 

Harley got home from school a couple of hours later. Peter was in the lounge on the private floor when Harley got home. Harley walked into the room and joined Peter on the couch. 

“How has your day been?” Harley asked.

“It’s been okay. Kinda boring without you.”

“Nice to know I’m missed.” Harley smiled at Peter. 

“How was school?” Peter asked.

“Eh. It was okay. Boring though.”

The two boys stayed on the couch, relaxing and enjoying being with each other. 

“How have you been today?” Harley asked, breaking the silence.

“I’ve been okay. I spent most of the day down in the lab.”

“Did you eat anything?”

“Yeah. Mr Stark forced me to eat some food.”

“Well. At least you ate, I guess.” 

“Yeah.” The conversation died quickly.

“Peter. I kinda need to talk to you. Is it okay if we have a serious conversation? Are you in the right mindset?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. What’s up?”

Harley sat up a bit on the couch and turned to face Peter. Peter also sat up a bit. 

“I respect that you have some stuff that you still need to work through with Mr Paltrow. I understand that you don’t want to burden me with your feelings and stuff. I get all that. But I want you to tell me things, Peter. I love you and I care about you and I’m worried about you. If I knew what was going on, then maybe I could help more.”

“Harley. I can’t. I don’t want you to be constantly worrying about me because I might have an attack or a flashback or something. I don’t want to damage your mental health because I can’t handle being Spider-Man. I know that you care about me and what you have been doing is enough. It’s more than enough.”

“I feel like you don’t trust me,” Harley whispered, teary-eyed. 

“I do trust you, Harley. I trust you more than everyone else here. But I can’t talk to you about this.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t. Can you accept that, please?”

“No, Peter. I can’t just accept that. Why can’t you trust me?” Harley started raising his voice. 

“I never said I couldn’t trust you. I don’t want to talk to you about it. I don’t want it to hurt you.” 

“If you can’t trust me with your feelings, then what else can’t you trust me with?”

“I do trust you. Harley. Please. I trust you with my life-”

“Then tell me what’s going on or leave,” Harley yelled.

Peter stared at Harley. 

“Okay,” Peter whispered. He stood from the couch and walked towards the elevator.

“Peter. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Peter kept walking, completely ignoring Harley. Harley got up and followed Peter.

“Don’t, Harley,” Peter said as Harley reached out to place a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

Harley stood there and watched Peter leave, knowing he couldn’t do anything. 

  
  


Peter entered the elevator. “Labs, please.” Peter let the tears fall once the elevator doors were closed. As soon as the doors opened, Peter raced to Tony’s lab. He hesitated outside the door, taking a shuddering breath, then walked into the familiar environment. 

***

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where’s Mr Stark?” Harley asked.

“Tony is currently in his lab. I would suggest you don’t go to him as Peter has just entered the lab.”

“Okay. Is Miss Pepper in the building?”

“No.” 

Harley sighed and sat back on the couch.

***

“Hey, Kid,” Tony said, not looking up from the machine he was working on. When he didn’t get a reply, he looked up. Peter was curled up on the old couch in the corner of the room.

“Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on?” Tony raced to the couch and wrapped Peter in a soft hug.

Peter shook his head and leant into Tony’s embrace.

“Should I call for Harley?” Peter shook his head and tensed slightly. 

“Are you able to tell me what happened?” Peter shook his head again. 

“Can I ask you about it?” Once again, Peter shook his head. 

“Okay.” Tony and Peter stayed on the couch for what felt like forever. 

“You want to go to dinner?” Tony asked after a while.

“Can’t,” Peter mumbled.

“Why not?”

“He’s gonna be at dinner, too.”

“Who?” 

“Harley,” Peter whispered. 

“Woah. What’d he do to you?”

“Nothing. I just don’t want to see him.”

“Did you two break up?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. We’ll have dinner here. Just you and me. Sound good?” Peter nodded. 

“I’ll go up and get us some food then bring it back down here.” Tony got up and left Peter on the couch.

“Peter and I won’t be joining you all for dinner tonight. Apologies.” Tony announced as he walked into the dining room. 

“Awe. Why not?” Natasha asked.

“I don’t know but Peter seems to be upset and doesn’t want to come to dinner.”

“Oh. Is he okay?”

“Should be soon. We are having dinner down in my lab.” Tony collected two plates of food and turned back to the elevator. He almost bumped right into Harley. 

“Hey, Harley. Are you alright?” Tony asked, noticing Harley’s tear-stained face.

“Yeah. I’m good,” He mumbled.

“Is everything okay between you and Peter?”

“Not really. I don’t want to talk about it though.” 

“Okay. Just. If you want to talk some other time, let me know.”

“Thanks, Mr Stark.”

Tony went back down to the labs with the food. 

Peter slept in Tony’s lab that night. He had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch while Tony was working. When he woke up, Tony was still sitting at the workbench.

“Mister Stark?”

“Ah. Good morning, Peter. You sleep okay?”

“Not really. What time is it?”

“About 8 am.”

“I should go get some breakfast.”

“I’ll come too.” Tony smiled at Peter.

Peter hid behind Tony as they walked into the private floor. He scanned around, looking for Harley. Fortunately, Harley wasn’t there. Peter grabbed some food from the cupboard and sat at the table. 

Harley woke up and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read 8:10 am. Harley sighed and laid back on his pillows.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where’s Peter?”

“Peter is currently in the dining room on the penthouse level.”

“Thanks.” Harley sighed again. He knew he had to get up and leave for school in half an hour but he didn’t want to see Peter. Harley forced himself out of bed and into the shower. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where is Peter now?” Harley asked once he was out of the shower.

“Peter is now in Tony’s lab.”

“Okay. Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

Harley collected everything he needed for school and made his way down to the ground level. Happy was waiting for him outside. 

Peter spent the day in Tony’s lab. He explained to Tony what had happened through a lot of tears. 

“I’m sure Harley didn’t mean what he said.”

“It’s not only that. What if I really can’t trust him? Like, subconsciously or something.”

“Then that is something you two can work out but you don’t have to right now.”

“What if he completely hates me and never wants to see me again?”

“Then tough shit because you two still live in the same building and share a lab.”

Peter groaned and threw himself onto the couch. 

“Peter. You can’t spend all day here. There is training this evening and you have to sleep in a proper bed.” Tony said at about 4 pm.

“I can’t go to my room tonight. I don’t want to disturb May. Where else am I supposed to sleep?”

“There is a spare room on the spies floor and the supersoldier floor if you want to sleep in one of those.” Tony offered. 

“Yeah. Maybe.” 

“Anyway. Early dinner tonight then training in the gym.”

“Okay. Guess I have to go to dinner tonight?”

“Yep. Come on.” Tony stood from where he was sitting and motioned for Peter to get up as well.

Peter and Tony rode the elevator in silence. They stepped out of the elevator onto the shared floor and followed the noise to the dining area. Peter quickly scanned the room, looking for Harley. Luckily for him, Harley wasn’t there.

“Is Harley supposed to be joining us for dinner?”

“Nope. It’s a team meal tonight because it’s early and we have training.”

Peter physically relaxed at Tony’s answer.

“Woah. Something happened, didn’t it?” Steve asked. 

“No?” Peter attempted.

“Lies. What happened?” Clint asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” 

The team let the conversation stop there. 

Peter escaped in the middle of training. After fighting with Natasha, Tony and Steve, Peter mumbled something about stuff to do and being tired. 

Peter went up to the private floor and went to his old room. Careful not to disturb May, Peter snuck over to the wardrobe. He slowly pulled open the door and reached into the back corner. It was still there. Peter grabbed the pile of fabric and quietly closed the wardrobe again. He made his way to the door. 

“Peter? What’s up?” May woke up. 

“Oh. Hey, Aunt May. How are you?”

“I’m alright. What’s up?” She repeated. 

“Nothing. Just going back to my room to relax after training.” Peter tried. 

“Tony said the training would finish,” May checked the clock next to the bed, “About an hour from now. What are you doing?”

“I was released from training early.” 

“Okay. And what are you doing in here?”

“Just checking on you.”

“Okay. See ya.” May smiled at Peter.

“Bye.” Peter closed the door behind him and walked further down the hallway, seeing if there were any spare rooms down the hallway. 

Fortunately, there was a small, empty room. Peter snuck into the room, unsure if he was allowed in there. Inside the room were a bed, a small table on each side of it, a dressing table along the far wall, a walk-in closet along the opposite wall and a tv opposite the bed. There wasn’t much colour or personality. Peter quickly got changed into the old spider-man suit, leaving his clothes in a messy pile next to the door. He climbed out of the window and started swinging towards his beloved city. 

As this was Peter’s old suit, he didn’t have Karen to talk to. He didn’t have Karen to tell him where the danger was. But that was okay. Peter hadn’t snuck out to do patrol tonight. Tonight, Peter snuck out to get away from everyone at the compound. 

Peter headed towards the tallest flat-roofed building in Queens. He sat on the edge, hanging his legs over. That’s when Peter finally relaxed. He took a deep breath and as he breathed out, he let the tears fall. Peter missed Harley. He missed the comforting hugs each night and he missed the morning kisses. It had only been a few days but without Harley, it felt like a lifetime.

After half an hour of sitting on the rooftop, Peter’s phone started ringing. It was from Tony. 

“Uh. Hey.” Peter answered.

“Where are you?”

“In Queens.” 

“Why?”

“I needed to get out. Get some air.” 

“So you go for a walk. Not to Queens.”

“Whatever.” Peter ended the call. He knew he would get in trouble for that later but right now, he didn’t care.

It was almost two in the morning when Peter started to make his way back to the tower. He snuck back in through the window he had left through. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where is Harley?”

“Harley is in med-room 3.”

“Is he okay?”

“I am not sure how much he would want me to tell you.”

“Okay. Where’s Tony?”

“Tony is also in Med-room 3.”

“Okay. Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

Peter raced to the elevator, consumed with worry. 

Peter rushed onto the med floor hurriedly. He ran down the hallway towards room 3. He stopped at the door. Through the window, he could see Harley laying on the bed, covered in bruises and a few cuts littered his bare chest and face, a couple decorating his arms. He laid there, watching the doctor move around the room. 

Peter stood at the door, too scared to open it. But Tony saw him. After a couple of unheard words between Tony and Harley, Tony approached the door and opened it. Peter stood there, looking up at his mentor. 

“Mr Stark. I’m sorry for going out tonight. I know I should have asked or let someone know but I messed up. I’m sorry.” Peter blurted, scared that Tony was angry. 

“It’s okay, Peter. We have more pressing issues than your little escape tonight. Peter. Do you know why Harley is in there?”

“No.” The worry was evident in Peter’s voice.

“Harley was attacked just down the road.”

“Do you know who attacked him?”

“Not his name. But that guy.” Tony didn’t have to explain any further. 

“What’s he doing around the tower?”

“We don't know, Peter. Right now, we need to make sure Harley is okay. Then I will make sure I talk to Happy about security. Then we will try to look for the guy. Okay, Peter?”

“Okay. Can I- Am I allowed- Does he want to- May I see him?”

"I’ll ask if he’s okay with you seeing him.” Peter watched Tony talk to Harley. Tony started walking back towards the door. 

“He wants to see you, too.” Tony stepped to the side, allowing Peter to pass before he stepped out. Peter slowly walked towards the bed. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered. 

“What for?”

“Dragging you into this. Hurting you. Being a mess in general.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong.” 

“How can you say that? I- I- You were in tears. It’s my fault you were crying.” 

“Okay. You hurt me. You hurt me a lot. But we have bigger things to focus on.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“I was trying to not hurt you.”

“I know, Peter.” 

The doctor chose that moment to walk in. Peter was now sitting on the bed next to Harley. Their hands were joined and they were looking directly at each other. Peter’s head snapped towards the doctor. 

“Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. I’m here to discharge you, Harley. You’re free to go. Just take it easy. Nothing too extreme. And make sure you sleep tonight.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Harley moved to get up. Peter rushed in to help him.

“I’m okay, Peter. I can walk.”

Peter backed off a little but stayed close enough to help in case he needed it.

Peter, Harley, Tony, Pepper and May had a movie night. They all piled onto the one couch, cuddled together. One by one, they each fell asleep until it was just Peter and Harley watching the credits roll. 


	22. Chapter 22

“Peter? You still awake?” Harley whispered, careful not to wake the others.

“Yeah. You should be resting, shouldn’t you?”

“Not tired.” Harley yawned.

“Really?”

“We need to talk, Peter.”

“We do but does it have to be now?”

“You think Mr Stark will let us have alone time after me being attacked, you sneaking out earlier and the constant threat of attack?”

“Good point. We should probably move away from these guys.” Peter untucked himself from Tony and May’s arms and quietly headed to the kitchen, hearing Harley attempt to release himself from Tony and Pepper.

“I’m sorry,” Peter mumbled. 

“You don’t have to apologise. I have been thinking about what happened.” Harley took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have constantly been pushing you to tell me the information you wanted to keep private. I had no right to get angry about you not telling me. I was annoyed and scared that you were getting worse and hiding that from me. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.”

“Harley.” Peter stepped towards Harley who was now crying. “Harley. I am improving. I am doing so much better than I was a few months ago. You have helped me get to where I am.” a short silence hung uncomfortably in the air for a few seconds. “I don’t want you to feel like I don’t trust you because I do but I don’t want to potentially put your mental health at risk because you’re so busy helping me.” Peter took a breath and reached out to hold Harley’s hand.

“Peter. I don’t think I’ve told you this. When I was little, a short while before I met Tony, my dad left us. He went to the shop to get scratch cards and didn’t come back. My mum died almost a year ago. My little sister was put with family on the other side of the country. I was allowed to stay at a friend's place because Tony had reached out at that time and offered me a place here. Just before I moved, everything was delayed because of my friend’s car accident.”

“Oh, Harley.” Peter wrapped his arms around Harley’s shoulders, pulling him close. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“You had your own things to worry about. I know that if things got hard, I would have told you. And I know that you haven’t told me what’s going on with you because of the same reasons I didn’t tell you that stuff. As I said before, I had no right to get angry. I’m sorry.”

“Because neither of us is going to let the other blame themselves, how about we agree that it was both our fault. I should have shown I trusted you by telling you at least a little bit-”

“And I should have trusted you were okay and I shouldn’t have gotten angry.” 

Peter and Harley smiled at each other. 

“May I…?” Peter whispered as he leaned in. Harley nodded. Their lips joined. 

“Hey. You two are underage.” May’s voice filled the kitchen. Harley heard Peter mumble something under his breath as he pulled away. 

Harley turned to May. “Apologies. I understand that you are protective of Peter so I must inform you that he 1) is the one who kissed me and 2) did ask for permission from me first.” Harley smiled at Peters groans. 

May, Peter and Harley all went to bed after that, leaving Tony and Pepper, who had curled together in everyone’s absence, to sleep on the couch. 

***

Peter woke that morning, curled up in Harley’s arms. He smiled and snuggled closer to Harley. 

“Morning.” Harley smiled.

“Morning,” Peter mumbled into Harley’s chest.

“You’re in a cuddly mood this morning.”

“I’ve missed your hugs.” Peter wrapped his arms around Harley’s waist, holding him tightly.

“Careful. Don’t break my spine,” Harley joked. Peter loosened his grip but didn’t let go of Harley. 

Peter was quiet.

“Everything okay?” Harley asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Do you know what today is?” Peter asked. 

Harley smiled widely. “Of course I do.”

“I made you something,” Peter said shyly. “We might want to go down to the lab where I’ve hidden it before anyone else gets up.

“Kinda annoying that all this has happened just now. I mean. I only got beat up last night.” Harley said as he started getting out of bed. 

“Maybe He knew that. Maybe that’s why He chose to attack last night.”

“Maybe,” Harley said thoughtfully. “Anyway. Let’s go.” Harley smiled at Peter, intertwining their fingers, excitement replacing his thoughts of what had happened the night before.

Peter led the way down to the lab, keeping an eye out for anyone who might disturb them.

“What’d you make?” Harley asked as they were nearing the door to the lab.

“Nope. I’m not spoiling the surprise.” 

“Please?” 

“Nope.” Peter pushed open the door and walked straight through to the door to the Spider-Man room.

“No one’s gonna jump out and scream surprise, are they?”

“No.” Peter smiled reassuringly at Harley. “I promise.”

Peter opened the door and started walking up the wall.

“You know I can’t follow you up there, right?”

“Patience, Birthday Boy. Just wait there.” Peter walked over to the top far corner of the room, pushing away the webs that were littering the walls. Once he reached the corner, he pushed away the massive build-up of webs in and grabbed a small box. 

Once back on the floor, Peter handed the box to Harley. “Happy Birthday, Harls.” Peter smiled at Harley. “I hope you like it.” Harley smiled at Peter before carefully opening the box. 

Inside was what looked like a watch. It had a square face with rounded corners. The front of it was black instead of having a clock-face on it. The straps were a soft black material with a magnet at each end. There was a small button on the side, just above the right corner. 

Harley reached into the box to pick it up.

“You made this?” Peter nodded. “Peter. This is amazing. Thank you.”

“It can connect to a copy of this that is currently sitting in the room upstairs. They can read our vitals and if something is wrong, it will alert the other person.”

“Wow. This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much, Peter.”

“You’re welcome,” Peter mumbled. Harley placed the watch back in the box, then placed the box on the couch next to him. He slowly approached Peter. 

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just wasn’t sure if you would like it.”

“Peter. I love it.” 

“I’m glad.”    
Harley took a breath. “May I?” He whispered. Peter nodded. 

Their lips connected. All the words they hadn’t said to each other over the past few days, all the feelings they hadn’t expressed, were shared in the kiss. 

***

Everyone was laughing and joking around at dinner that night. Tony had given Harley a new phone that he had made. Pepper gave him an intricate box and told him to open it after dinner. Bucky and Natasha gave him a set of knives. The other Avengers banded together and gave him a collection of lollies, a couple of plush Spider-Man toys and a mini shield that looked like Captain America’s shield but had the spider from Peter’s suit on it. 

Pepper, Natasha and Bucky had spent most of the day preparing and cooking dinner and dessert. They had a huge roast for dinner, with roasted vegetables, mash potatoes and gravy. For dessert, they had the choice of chocolate, strawberry or vanilla ice cream, apple crumble, and custard. 

Everyone was happy and well-fed after dinner. 

When dinner was over, everyone moved into the lounge area. Tony set up a movie list and they all sat, watching movies till late into the night. 

After a couple of movies, Peter and Natasha disappeared into the kitchen, claiming they were getting snacks. 

Tony paused the movies while they were gone and everyone started moving, clearing the middle of the room. Peter walked into the room, carrying a huge cake. 

The room was filled with the not so good singing of The Avengers. 

Harley sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, smiling at his family around him. 

“You guys really didn’t have to do anything for me.”

“You’re right. We didn’t have to. We chose to,” Peter replied as he gently placed the cake on the ground in front of Harley. “Make a wish, Babe,” Peter whispered. 

Harley blew out the candles, smiling around at the group of happy superheroes around him. 

“Thank you all so much. This really means a lot to me.” 

Pepper got up from her spot on the couch. She gave Harley a hug, whispering in his ear. “I know this is the first birthday away from your family. If you need to leave, go ahead.” Pepper gave him one last squeeze before heading into the kitchen to clean up and get plates for cake. 

“I’m gonna be in my room. I’ll be back soon. Don’t start the movie without me.” Harley disappeared to his room, taking in the silence. He looked at the box from Pepper. Opening it slowly, he saw a small notebook inside.

He gently removed the notebook and took in the designs on the front. It was a leather cover with crisscrossing lines and flowers all woven together in amazing designs. He slowly opened the book and on the front page was a picture that had been taken at a press conference. Peter, Harley and Tony were all wearing nice suits and big smiles. Pepper was wearing a knee-length pencil dress with black lace over a white base. 

Harley smiled at the memory. It was the day that Tony announced Peter and Harley as his interns. All the Avengers had been there as security and partway through the interview, Tony pulled out his phone and ordered a pile of cheeseburgers for the “Security” and Peter, Pepper, Harley and himself. 

Along the bottom of the page were the words “ _ Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing.” –Irina Shayk.  _ We love you, Harley. You’re always part of our family.” 

Harley smiled at what Pepper had written before turning the page. He flipped through a few more pages, going over memories. A knock on the door pulled him out of his head. 

“Hey, Harley? Can I come in?” It was Peter. 

“Yeah. Door’s open,” Harley replied. Peter opened the door. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just looking at what Miss Pepper got me.”

“Ohh. What is it?”

“It’s a notebook. It has pictures and stuff from the last year that I’ve been here.” 

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Yeah. Look at this one. It’s from the charity dinner party that Mr Stark was invited to. The one he took us to. Just before Christmas.”

“Yeah, I remember. Pepper wore that dress that she gave to May.” The dress in question was a champagne coloured dress that had a diamond belt and diamond chest, leading up to a single strap that rests on the collarbone. “May loves that dress.”

“We should probably get back to the party. Still got more movies to watch.” Harley gently put the book back in the box before standing from the bed. He reached his hand out to Peter. Peter and Harley went back and joined their family in the lounge, settling down to eat cake and watch more movies. 

Everyone slowly drifted off as the night got late. Soon, it was only Natasha, Tony and Harley awake. 

“Mr Stark. Thank you so much for tonight. I really appreciate it.” Harley smiled at Tony. 

“It’s alright, Kid. You’re 18. You can go explore the world. Get drunk, get a tattoo, get a flat. Up to you, Harley.”

“Guess you also can’t call me Kid anymore.” 

“You’re still a kid to me, Kid.”

“As long as you’re younger than us, you’re still a kid.” Natasha piped up. 

“Whatever. I’m old enough to get drinks.”

“That doesn’t mean you can get drinks for Peter, though.”

“I know. I wouldn’t let that happen,” Harley said seriously. 

***

“Please, Mr Stark. I know I’m doing a lot better. Mr Paltrow has really helped me a lot and I’ve been working on my mental health between appointments. Please,” Peter begged.

“Just give it a little more time, Peter. I promise you can go back out soon. But what happened to you never wanting to go back out and you not being ready to go out?”

“That was then. I’m ready now. And I want to go out. I promise I can handle it.”

“Just let us make sure. I have F.R.I.D.A.Y scanning every camera in the city for that guy and I’ve shown the team a picture and told them to keep an eye out if they leave the tower.”

“I am ready to go back out.”

“No, Peter. Not yet. Please listen to me.”

Peter sighed. “Okay. Whatever. I’ll be in the gym if anyone needs me.”

“No, you won't. We have training in 20 minutes. Downstairs lounge in 15 minutes, please.”

“Okay. Guess I’ll be there if anyone needs me then.” Peter went to the elevator and headed down to the shared lounge. 

***

“Now that everyone is here, let’s begin. Today I thought we would go around and share more about our personal mental health struggles. We have plenty of time and if at any time you don’t feel comfortable, you may leave.” Natasha sat down and looked around. “Who wants to go first?”

“I will,” Steve said, unusually quiet. “Well. As I said in the first one of these training things, I struggle with PTSD, Anxiety and depression. I guess the reasons for these are PTSD from the war and New York and Sokovia. Anxiety is just something I’ve lived with my whole life. It wasn’t that big of a deal when I was younger but it has definitely started bothering me as I’ve adjusted to life in the 21st century. And I guess my depression isn’t that bad. Just kinda makes some days slow and stuff.” Steve looked up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at. Bucky, who was sitting next to Steve, wrapped his arm around Steve’s shoulders and pulled him in for a side hug.

“Are you okay, Mr Captain America, Sir?”

“Yeah, Peter. I’m good.” Steve smiled at the young boy. 

“Who’s next?” Natasha asked. 

“I’ll go. So. Uhh. I’m the same as Cap over there. PTSD, anxiety and Depression. I’m not so bad now but a few years ago, quite a few years now, I had a lot of panic attacks, some in public. After a lot of work on my own mental health through therapy, I don’t get them as often anymore. As for depression and anxiety, well. That’s all stemmed from my father who I am sure most of you know about. That is something I have been working through, though.” Tony, also, was staring at a spot on the ground as he spoke. He didn’t look up until he felt two arms wrapping themselves around him. Tony placed his arms around Peter to return the hug. 

“I’m alright, Pete. It’s okay now.” 

“Okay. Who else?” 

After Clint, Bruce, Thor, Bucky and Sam had told their stories and received hugs from Peter, Tony volunteered Peter to tell his story. 

“I guess. Uh. Well. There isn’t much to tell. I guess just a little bit of PTSD from a couple of years ago when I was fighting this guy that had some alien tech. He had used to make these metal wings. They weren’t as cool as yours, Mr Falcon, but they were pretty cool. He dropped me in a lake at one point and I know I would have drowned if Mr Stark hadn’t saved me. So I guess that and some other things he did to me has really affected me. But I am doing a lot better now.” Peter was picking at fluff on his pants when suddenly Tony was giving him a big hug. Peter leaned into the hug. 

“You okay, Peter?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Peter smiled before sitting back up properly and letting the meeting continue. 

Wanda talked a bit about how losing her brother affected her and how her powers and how she got them has lead to anxiety problems. 

“I have anxiety and what I believe to be a form of anorexia.” Natasha started.

“What’s anorexia?” Bucky asked.

“A form of eating disorder.” Tony supplied. 

“On bad days, I probably won’t eat. On good days, it's a struggle but I would probably eat a little bit.” Natasha didn’t go into any more detail about that. “I believe my anxiety stems from growing up in the red room.” 

“Can I ask what that is, Aunty Natasha?”

“I’ll tell you later, Peter. I don’t really want to talk about it at the moment.” Natasha smiled at Peter and moved to continue the meeting. 

“Does everyone understand why we have family dinners?” No one spoke.

“Does no one know why we actually have family dinners? Wow. Okay. I thought we had talked about this. Alright. So. Family dinners are actually a way to check up on each other and make sure everyone eats.”

“I have been looking at F.R.I.D.A.Y’s coding and abilities and if there are any important dates like anniversaries or anything, Let F.R.I.D.A.Y know and she will let people you are comfortable with know. Just tell her who that is or she will tell everyone. Also. F.R.I.D.A.Y is now programmed to alert everyone when you are having a panic attack or an anxiety attack or anything like that. You can ask for her to alert a list of people instead of everyone.” Tony informed the group. 

“Thanks, Tony.” Natasha smiled thankfully at Tony. 

“I have logged all the dates I already know. Double-check if you aren’t sure.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the room.

“Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Tony said.

“Anything else we need to go over before we split?” Steve asked. 

“Uhh. I guess just let someone know if you are having a bad day. They might be able to help or at least support you. Please try to come to family dinners and if there is anything you want to go over in one of these meetings or if you want to try a team-building activity or anything, let me know and I will see what I can do.” Natasha smiled at the team. “You’re all free to go.” 

Peter quickly headed to the elevator before anyone could talk to him. He quickly went to his room, hoping that Harley wouldn’t ask any questions. 

“Hey. How was training?” Damn.

“Training was okay. Just talked about everyone’s personal mental health stuff.”

“Were you okay with that?”

“Yeah. It was weird hearing them all talk about it but I was okay.”

“Was?”

“I am okay.” Peter smiled at Harley. “I just don’t really want to hang out with the team at the moment.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just want hugs.” Peter flopped onto the bed next to Harley. 

“I can’t hug you when you’re laying down like that.” Peter sat up and snuggled into Harley’s side.

“Better?”

“Yeah. I can hug you now. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. I’m a lot better now.”

  
  
  



	23. Chapter 23

“Hey, Harley?” Peter called, not looking up from the papers in front of him.  
“Yeah?” Harley answered from across the lab.  
“We should go out.” Peter was standing, frozen, over his work as he waited for an answer.   
“You mean like, for dinner or something?” Harley was also frozen.  
“Yeah.”  
“Sounds good to me.” Peter released the breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding.   
“I think it’s family dinner tonight but we could go out tomorrow night or the night after,” Peter said as he approached Harley.   
“Tomorrow night sounds good. Where should we go?”   
“We could ask Mr Happy to drop us off at the little restaurant down the road from my old place?” Peter suggested.  
“The little pizza place?”  
“Yeah.” Peter and Harley smiled at each other. “I’ll go ask Mr Stark and Aunt May.” Peter rushed out of the labs and to the elevator. 

“Mr Stark? Can Harley and I go out for dinner on our own tomorrow night?”  
“You’ll have to talk to your aunt. I’m okay with it though.”   
“Thank you, Mr Stark.” Peter rushed off to where May was. 

“Aunt May? Can I come in?”  
“Just a second.” May opened the door. “Everything okay?”  
“Yeah. I just wanted to ask you if Harley and I could go out for dinner tomorrow night. Can we?”  
“As long as it doesn’t turn into anything inappropriate and you two don’t end up dead, sure.” May smiled at Peter.   
“Thanks, Aunt May.” Peter hugged his Aunt before rushing back to the lab to let Harley know they were allowed.

“We just have to ask Mr Happy nicely to pick us up,” Harley said after Peter came running into the lab, yelling.   
“Oh. I didn’t even think of that. Doesn’t he have to take us where we need to go, though? And we can’t exactly walk to the restaurant.”  
“I guess. He won’t be very happy with us.”  
“Oh well. When is he ever?”  
“Good point. Can’t wait for tomorrow night.” Harley smiled excitedly at Peter. 

***

Family dinner that night was loud. Thor, who had been in New Asgard for a few days, had come back with Loki. Steve and Bucky had spent the day out in town together. May and Pepper had joined the team for dinner, too.

Steve, Bucky, Clint, Sam and Rhodey were having a loud conversation at one end of the table, with May and Pepper occasionally chipping in. Natasha, Pepper, May and Wanda were having little conversations throughout dinner. Thor, Loki, Tony, Bruce, Harley and Peter were having a conversation at the other end of the table. 

After dinner, almost everyone moved into the lounge. Peter and Harley stayed in the kitchen to clean up. Pepper and May went back up to the private floor. 

Clint, Natasha and Wanda took the couch. Steve and Bucky took the love seat while everyone else was spread around on the seats or the floor. 

Peter and Harley finished the dishes and joined the team for a movie before they disappeared up to the private floor as well. Slowly, everyone else started to head to their floors, too. Soon, it was only Tony, Loki and Thor left. 

“I’m going to bed. Thor, there should be a spare room on your floor for him to sleep in.” Tony gestured in Loki’s direction.  
“Oh. There is no need for that, Anthony. I won’t be sleeping tonight.” Loki spoke.  
“You won’t be wandering around my tower unsupervised, either. And my name is Tony. Not Anthony.”  
“I believe your parents gave you the name Anthony, therefore it is your name.”  
“I prefer Tony. Keep calling me Anthony and you will no longer be welcome in my tower.”  
“Okay, Tony. Goodnight.” Loki smiled at Tony. Tony glared at Loki for a second before disappearing to the elevator. 

***

Peter and Harley spent the next morning in their lab again. Peter was drawing up plans for gifts for everyone for Christmas while Harley was sitting on the couch, reading. 

“Tony has asked for both of you to join him in the private living room.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the room. 

Peter and Harley slowly made their way to the elevator. When the doors opened to the private living room, Peter and Harley knew something was wrong. 

“What is it this time?” Peter asked.  
“We just wanted to talk to you two about something,” Tony said.  
“About what?”  
“Tonight.”  
“What about tonight?”  
“Happy has agreed to drop you off and pick you up from the restaurant. I want you two to be safe. Happy said he will hang around the area. If anything happens, I want you to contact him first. He will come and pick you up.”  
“We aren’t babies, Mr Stark,” Harley said.  
“We know. But we still want you to be safe,” May said from the doorway.  
“Aunt May. You can’t be backing him on this. He is treating us like little children. We aren’t children.”  
“I’m not backing him. He’s backing me. I asked for Happy to stay close.”  
“Aunt May. I am not a little kid anymore.”  
“Babe. It’s okay. It’s probably better. It’s not like we plan on doing anything… you know… inappropriate.” Harley placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”   
“Whatever. Guess we should probably start getting ready for dinner. Don’t want to be late.” Peter walked off towards his room, Harley following. 

The boys were ready and waiting outside the tower at 4:30 pm. Happy drove them to the restaurant they had picked and promised to stay nearby in case anything happened. 

The boys entered the small building, approaching the desk where a bored teenage girl was sitting, staring at her phone.

“Hey. We have a booking for Stark?” Harley said.   
“Just a second.” The girl looked at the computer screen in front of her. “Yep. Just wait here and someone will be here to take you to your table very soon.” She handed a paper to Harley that had a number on it. Peter and Harley waited by the desk, looking around the restaurant. 

There was a family in the corner, two dads and a daughter, an old couple eating their food and what looked like a mother with her son. 

A waiter turned up, way too smiley for 5 pm.  
“Hi. My name is Wade and I will be serving you tonight. What table number are you?” He asked.  
“Uhh.” Harley glanced at the paper in his hand. “38.”  
“Okay. Great. Right, this way.” Wade smiled at the pair before leading them to a table. 

The table was hidden slightly around a corner.   
“I’ll give you two some time to look at the menu. I’ll be back soon to take your orders.” Wade smiled once again before disappearing. 

“Well. He was nice.” Harley joked.  
“He certainly was.” Peter smiled. “What should we get to eat?” Both boys picked up the menus. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes as they looked at the options on the menu. 

“I think I might have pasta soup.” Peter folded the menu up and placed on the table. “How about you?”  
“I think I might have the same. Not much else here looks interesting.”

Peter and Harley carried a light conversation as they waited for Wade to get back. 

“Hey. I hope you two are okay. Would you like to start with an entree or go straight to dinner?”   
“We’ll have dinner, thank you,” Harley replied.   
“Okay. And what would you like?”  
“Both of us will have pasta soup, thank you.”  
“Okay. Is there anything else I can get you? Drinks?”  
“Uh. I’ll have a coke, please. You, Peter?”  
“Oh. Um. I’ll have a coke as well, thanks.” Peter smiled awkwardly at Wade.   
“Two pasta soups and two cokes. Coming up.” Wade smiled at the couple before heading off to the kitchen. 

They continued random conversations, talking about different things they could work on in the lab, how they could continue to learn outside of school now that Tony had stopped forcing Harley to go. It was only a 10-minute wait for their food. 

“I’m sorry. Wade is busy. I will be serving you for the rest of the night.” Peter’s head snapped up. He recognised that voice. The man was standing behind him. Peter saw the look on Harley’s face change from one of happiness to one of confusion. 

“Harley. It’s him.” Peter mouthed, hoping Harley understood.

“I hope you enjoy your meal, Peter,” he said.   
“Get away from us. We aren’t trying to hurt you. We aren’t even trying to find you. If you just leave me alone, you can live your life.”  
“But my husband doesn’t get that option? No. Peter. You know exactly what I am doing. And I’m not stopping until you have lost everything.”  
“Leave them all alone. You have already done enough.” Peter was on his feet, now. Facing the man. Everyone else in the restaurant was staring.   
“No. Peter. I will get the whole little family that you’ve built for yourself and then. Then I will leave you alone to suffer.”   
Just then, Happy came running into the restaurant.

“Peter! Harley! Is everything okay?” The man glanced over at Happy, giving Peter the chance to move away from him. Peter ducked to the side, towards where Happy was now standing. Harley rushed around the table.   
“The car is parked outside. It’s open.” Harley grabbed Peter’s hand and led him towards the door of the restaurant. 

“We are so sorry for what has happened to you here tonight. We don’t know how he got in here without us seeing him but we promise to give you each a free meal here if you chose to dine with us again.” Wade was standing at the door, apologising profusely.   
“We probably won’t be back here. I hope you understand.” Harley was saying as he pushed past Wade. Harley led Peter to the car and opened the door, getting in after Peter. 

“Are you okay?”   
“He’s still out there. He’s still after you. I shouldn’t have suggested we go out.”  
“Hey. No. Going out was a great idea. It still is. None of this is your fault.” Peter pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. Harley gently placed an arm around his shoulders.   
“You’re okay. Everything is okay. I promise.” Harley was whispering into Peter’s ear. 

Happy got in the car and started the engine.

“Happy. What happened to him?” Harley asked urgently  
“I knocked him out. Searched him. No ID or anything.”  
“Okay. We need to get to the tower as quickly as possible.”  
“I know. I’m heading there now.”  
The car ride was silent, apart from Peters heavy breathing and occasional whispers from Harley. 

Harley made sure to keep a hold on Peter once they were out of the car. They made their way to the elevator, going up to the private floor. Tony, Pepper, May, Steve and Natasha were sitting in the lounge, watching TV, when the elevator opened and Harley rushed into the room, dragging Peter who was still hyperventilating.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” Tony was quick to start asking questions.   
“We were attacked. We’re okay, though. No injuries, at least.” Harley was saying. Pepper and May rushed over to Peter. They led him to the couch and were working on calming him down.   
“Harley. What happened?” Natasha asked.  
“That guy. The one who’s after Peter. He was at the restaurant. He was at our table, pretending to be the waiter. He was talking to Peter. I quickly sent a message to Happy while Peter and the man were talking. Happy came in and helped get us out of there.”  
“Are you okay?” Steve asked, noticing Harley was shaking and his breathing was uneven.  
“Yeah. I’m okay.” Harley turned to keep an eye on Peter, ending the conversation he was having with Steve and Natasha. 

Once he was sure that Peter was safe and okay, Harley vanished to his room. He sat on the soft bed and started searching for his book.

“Harley. Tony would like you back in the lounge,” F.R.I.D.A.Y said.  
“No.” Harley pulled open drawers and flicked through shelves, still searching for his book. “Where is it? I can’t have lost it.” He was mumbling to himself. There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Harley called, not looking up from the drawer he was currently digging through.   
“Are you okay?” Natasha opened the door to see Harley running around the room.   
“Yeah. I’m good.” Harley closed the drawer and moved on to the next one, pulling it open and pushing everything aside.  
“What are you looking for?”  
“My book. I need it.”   
“Is it this one?” Natasha picked up a book that was sitting on the bedside table. Harley looked up.   
“Yes. Thank you. I thought I had lost it. Thank you so much.”  
“Now that we’ve found your book, are you okay?”  
“Yeah. I’m okay.”  
“Harley. I know you’re worried about Peter but I’m sure that would have been scary for you, too.”   
“It was a bit. But I am okay now. I got over it.”  
“Okay. If you need anything, I’m just down the hallway.”  
“Okay.” Natasha stood from the bed and left the room.  
Harley laid on the bed and opened his book, hoping that reading will distract him from his heavy breathing and a racing heart. 

***

“Harley. You are wanted in the Labs.”  
“Okay. Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”  
Harley put the bookmark in his book and rolled off the bed. He quickly checked down the hallway to see if anyone was still there. Natasha and Pepper were sitting on the couch, chatting. Harley quietly approached the lounge, hoping to sneak past them.   
“Harley. You feeling better?” Natasha asked.  
“Yeah. Loads. Thanks.” He continued towards the elevator.  
“Where are you running off to?”  
“I’m wanted in the labs. I’m heading there.”  
“Okay. See you later, I guess.” Harley waved before stepping into the elevator. The ride down to the labs was short but long enough for Harley to wonder what he was needed for. He stepped off the elevator and headed straight towards Tony’s lab. He knocked on the door and waited a couple of seconds for a reply. When none came, he pushed the door open. The lab was empty. He then went down the hallway towards his and Peter’s lab. The door was open. He stepped in and saw Peter and Tony standing by the bench furthest from the door.

“Harley. We have something to show you.” Tony smiled at Harley.  
“Okay…” Harley slowly walked towards them, afraid it was a prank of some sort.  
“Here. Come over here.” Harley neared the bench. On the bench was a suit that was similar to the Spider-Man suit.  
You know that I don’t work on the Spider-Man suit. I don’t want to mess something up.”  
“That’s okay. This isn’t the Spider-Man suit,” Tony said.  
“It’s your suit,” Peter said excitedly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well. Peter wants to go back out on patrol and after what happened today, I don’t want him going out alone. I can’t go out because Iron Man doesn’t help with petty crime but petty crime is what Spider-Man does. We haven’t thought of what your name could be but, if you want to, you can go out with Peter.”  
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mr Stark. I’ll try my best.”  
“You can’t go out for a while, though. You need to train properly.”  
“Does this mean I have to train with the team? To learn new skills and learn to fight different people?”  
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. But I want you to have some private training first. I’m not throwing you right in with the team.”  
“Okay. When do I start?”  
“You two can train after dinner I guess.”  
“I can’t wait. I can start beating up bad guys soon.”  
“That’s probably a while away.” Tony laughed  
“I know.”   
“Anyway. That’s all we wanted you down here for. You can go back to your room if you want to.”  
“Nah. Can try on the suit?”  
“Yeah. There aren’t any weapons or anything at the moment.” Harley grabbed the suit and ran into the Spider-Man room. He quickly got changed and walked back into the lab space.   
“How do I look?”  
“Great. It shows off your ass a lot” Peter joked.  
“Looks good, Kid. Does it feel okay?”  
“Yeah. Feels great.”   
“Alright. I’m going back to my lab. You two can do whatever you want. Don't mess with that suit, though.” Tony left the two boys in the lab.

“Dude. We’d be a great crime-fighting couple.”  
“Yeah. You want to start some training now?”  
“Sounds great.” 

Peter ran through basic fighting techniques that Natasha and Steve had taught him, hoping that he was getting it right. 

A couple of hours later, F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the lab space. “Dinner is ready on the shared floor.” Both boys stopped what they were doing, quickly got changed out of their suits, and rushed to the elevator.

*** 

It was a couple of weeks of private training before Peter asked Tony if Harley could join the team for training.  
“He doesn’t have to be a part of the team and he will only be at the physical training in the gym. I think he’s really good and might be able to beat untie Nat.”   
“Really? The kid who’s been training for two weeks can beat a slightly enhanced Russian spy that’s been training since she could walk?”  
“Okay. Maybe not. But he is ready to learn from the team. I promise.” Peter was talking to Tony as he was making himself lunch.   
“And what makes you think that?”  
“I can’t train him any more than I already have. I’ve gone over different scenarios he might encounter while out on patrol with me and even things that might happen if he were to fight with the team.”  
“Okay. I’ll talk to the others and see if they are okay with him joining us. They’ll probably say yes.”   
“Thank you, Mr Stark.”  
“It’s okay, Kid. Eat your lunch. Make sure Harley eats, too.” With that, Tony got up and left. Peter finished making lunch before heading down to the labs.

“Hey, Harley. Mr Stark said that he’ll ask the team if you can start training with them.”  
“Really? That would be so cool. I could learn so much.”   
“Yeah. Anyway. You have to eat.” Peter placed the plate of sandwiches on the bench next to Harley and then sat down. 

***

Harley did join the team for training. He would join them on Sunday afternoons to train and on Wednesday afternoons for the team building because although Harley wasn’t an Avenger, Tony was training the boys to be a new generation of Superheroes. 

***

A few weeks later, Peter and Harley approached Tony.   
“Hey, Mr Stark. We were wondering if we could ask you something.” Harley said.  
“Ge ahead.” Tony looked up from the tablet and smiled at the boys.   
“Now that Harley has been training a lot and he’s really good, could we go out on patrol together?” Tony hesitated. He looked at both young boys, the hopeful innocence on their faces. All Tony wanted to do was to keep them safe. Even just a little longer.  
“Do you think it’s a good idea going out there?”  
“We can work together. And thanks to you, my mental state is a lot better. We have both been keeping track of our physical fitness, mental health and overall wellbeing. I promise.” Peter tried to assure Tony.   
“I understand but you have tried to promise me that you’re okay before and that turned into a panic attack in public.”  
“I promise we’re okay, Mr Stark. I have learnt to look for signs of anxiety or panic attacks and I have done some reading about how to help in those situations. I have talked to Peter about what helps him and what could be possible triggers.” Harley stepped forward.   
“You want to go out with him, don’t you?” Tony asked Harley.   
“I want to help protect people and I know you won’t let me join the Avengers so helping Peter with Spider-Man stuff is the next best thing.”  
“How about becoming an online influencer or something?”  
“You already made the suit.” Harley smiled at Tony.  
“I guess. You two can go out tomorrow evening. I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y receiving updates from Karen, though.”  
“Okay. Sounds good.” Peter and Harley smiled victoriously at each other. “Thank you, Mr Stark.”

***

Peter and Harley spent the next day in the lab. Harley was in the Spider-Man room, training. Peter spent most of the day on the couch, watching Harley.  
“You’re amazing, babe. You don’t have to train all day. Remember, you aren’t biochemically advanced. You will tire yourself out.” Peter called from his spot on the couch.  
“I know, Peter. But what I freeze up out there and you get hurt?”  
“Then we can come back here and I can get fixed up.” Peter smiled. “It’ll be okay. I promise.” Harley walked over to the couch where Peter was now standing. “It’ll be okay,” Peter repeated as he wrapped his arms around Harley’s shoulders. Harley laid his head on Peter’s shoulders and took a breath.  
“Think it’ll be a quiet night?”  
“Hope so. I’m a little worried about going out after so long.”  
“When was the last time you saw anything about Spider-Man on the news or online or anything?”  
“I don’t look.” The boys collapsed together onto the couch, relaxing until they were called out for dinner.

F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the room. “Peter. Harley. Time for dinner. Everyone is waiting on the shared floor.” 

The boys slowly made their way to the elevator.

***

After dinner, Peter and Harley rushed to get changed.

“Boys. Stop.” Tony called from the table. Peter and Harley turned around. “Be careful. Harley, remember what I told you.”  
“Yes, Mr Stark.” Harley rolled his eyes as the two boys walked away, getting ready to go out. 

“Hold on tight. The suits should connect but still, be careful.” Peter stood on the landing pad, Harley on his back. He shot a web and ran to the edge, jumping off. Harley was yelling. Peter smiled widely at being out on patrol again. They reached Queens and Peter flew to a tall building, resting on the roof.

“Fun?” He asked Harley.  
“Amazing.” Harley smiled. He then turned his attention to the view. “Wow. This is… amazing.”  
“Yeah. I’ve missed this so much.”  
“I think I understand why you would love this.”  
“I used to be so scared of this. I was scared that I would fall while I was flying. But then I fell. And it wasn’t that bad.”  
“This looks amazing.” Harley was still staring at the view.

“Peter. Sorry to interrupt but there is unusual activity nearby that might affect the city.”  
“Directions, K,” Peter demanded, his voice changing in tone. 

Peter followed the basic directions until he came upon a seemingly abandoned warehouse at the Tallman Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“Peter? What’s going on here?”  
“I think you should go back to the tower. I’ll be off patrol soon.” Peter looked at the building. “I hope,” he mumbled to himself.  
“Peter. I’m not letting you go in there alone.” Harley placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder.  
“I’m not letting you go in with me.” He countered.  
“Peter. Please.  
“No, Harley. This is your first night out. I can’t let you get hurt.”  
“I don’t care if I get a bit hurt, Peter. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. You are not going in there alone.”  
“Fine. We go in the back, though. I’ve seen enough movies to know that walking in the front or climbing on the roof only gets us trapped.” Peter moved, heading to the nearest corner of the building. Harley quickly followed.

Peter motioned to Harley to be quiet before he slowly opened the door at the back of the building. He snuck in, Harley following soundlessly.

“Peter. Tony Stark is contacting you. Would you like me to answer?” Karen’s voice flooded Peter’s ears.   
“No, Karen. Send a message saying Sorry. Investigating. Have to be quiet. Call soon.” Peter whispered as quietly as he could. 

“Jack. That you? Been out a while, haven’t you?” Peter froze. It was him. Again. But he didn’t know that Peter was here. Harley looked at Peter, sensing his change in mood. Peter ignored him and slowly moved forward, towards where the voice had come from. 

“Ah. Peter. Long-time, no see. Actually. It hasn’t been that long, has it?” The man turned around, looking directly at Peter. “At last. I have you.”  
“You haven’t got me. I can turn around and run out in the time you can run across this room.”  
“Actually. You can’t.” The man smiled. “Lock the doors. Tie them up.” A group of masked men ran into the room from a door on the side. They were attacking Peter and Harley before they even knew what was going on. 

Both boys started fighting back as soon as they could with as much as they could. They seemed to be winning until the man yelled out.

“Come on. You’re here to win. Fight them with everything.” Then all of a sudden, as if someone flicked a switch, the masked people that were still able to fight started attacking faster, hitting harder and were overpowering the young boys. 

Peter was unable to even see who, if anyone, was coming towards him. He was lying on his back on the cold concrete, trying to force himself up.  
“Stay down, Peter. It’s okay.” was all Peter heard before everything went black.

When Peter woke again, He was sitting tied to a chair. He could hear someone talking but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Peter? Are you awake?” Harley was next to him.  
“Yeah.”   
“Oh. Thank god. I thought they had hit you too hard. Everything is okay. You were only out a few minutes. But it was long enough for them to tie us up.”  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t fight much. I got you caught.”  
“It’s okay, Peter. They got me while you were still fighting. When they hit you to the ground, I freaked and I was trying to get to you but they were holding me back.”   
“How are we going to escape?”  
“It’s okay. Backup should be almost here.” And with that, The wall behind them disappeared with a crash.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. This is the last chapter. I am thinking about some one-shots as a part of this story. 
> 
> I hope you have all enjoyed reading this story and following Harley and Peter on their awkward teenage experiences.
> 
> Thank you for reading.

The noise was deafening. The guards started firing guns at the new arrivals.   
“Peter. Harley. Are you two okay? Tony asked through the comms.  
“I’m okay. Might have bruised ribs but I’m fine. Peter was knocked unconscious for a few minutes. Might have a concussion.” Harley replied.   
“Peter. Has anything broken? Tony asked.   
“Karen. Injuries?”  
“You have a concussion, sprained wrist, bruised ribs, possibly broken foot,” Karen reported.   
“Did you hear that, Mr Stark?”   
“Yep. Okay. Clint. You get the boys and get them out. I don’t want Peter making that foot any worse. Birds. Go up and attack. Everyone else. Do what you can. Don’t hurt the boys as they try to get out. Try not to kill these guys.” Everyone jumped into action. 

Clint and Harley worked together to carry Peter out through the hole that Tony had made in the back wall. They went to the minivan that was parked nearby that belonged to The Avengers, laying Peter across one of the rows of seats. 

“Hey, Peter. You okay?” Harley asked softly.   
“Mmm. Sore.”   
“Duh. You okay mentally?”  
“Not really. I can feel myself getting shaky and I think I might have an attack.” Peter mumbled. Harley reached out and grabbed his hand.   
“It’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.” Peter gripped Harley’s hand as hard he could, being careful with his super strength, though. 

*Meanwhile*   
“Hey, Tony? I think the leader ran.” Steve’s voice sounded through the comms.   
“I’ll search. You guys keep the fighting here.” Tony flew out through the hole they had made in the wall and up into the air.   
“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Where’d he go?”   
“There is a heat signature on the other side of the building. Whoever it is, they seem to be hiding.”   
Tony flew across the building, looking for signs of people. 

Tony flew down to the pile of wood and stone that was leaning against the building.   
“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Search for heat signatures,” Tony whispered. A display appeared in front of his face. A man was hiding behind a sheet of wood, trying to stay hidden. 

“I know you’re there. Come out and I will spare your life.” Tony called out. Nothing moved. “Come out. This is your last chance.”   
“Alright. I’m gay. Happy?” A voice from the rubble called.  
“Not what I meant. Step out from behind the wood you are hiding behind and I will let you live. Fail to do so, and I will kill you.”   
The man slowly started moving from behind the wood. Tony froze as he stood in front of him.   
“You?”  
“What? Do you think I learnt all of that information about Peter Parker on my own? And hid me from you? As if. Of course, I was running all of this. I hire people to hide me and research Spider-man.” The man just smiled.   
“You run this operation?” Tony asked, sounding angry now.  
“Oh. Had you not worked that part out yet? Whoops.” Tony landed on the ground and ran towards the man, holding a blaster out in front of him.  
“Ah, Ah ah. You promised you wouldn’t kill me. I revealed myself now you have to follow through on your promise.”  
“Who. Are. You?” Tony growled in the man’s face.   
“Well. Considering there’s no way I’m getting out of this.” He smiled. “Hi. I’m Grant. Grant Willis. Hope we can be friends one day.”   
“You hurt Peter. You traumatised him. You almost ruined him. For what? Your dead husband?” Tony was yelling.   
“Peter Parker took my husband- my family- away from me. He ruined my life.”  
“And you are a grown man. Peter is a child.”  
“Age doesn’t make a difference. Had I left Peter alive, he would have had plenty of time to make himself a new family. He doesn’t need you. I have a few years left to live. Not enough time to find a family like the one I had.”   
“So killing off everyone Peter loved, everyone that cared about him, was a good idea? Peter probably wouldn’t have been able to create a new family. Why can’t you make a new family for yourself?”  
“I only have a few years left.”   
“Because you don’t want to let yourself get close to anybody for you to lose them again.” Tony lowered his blaster. “You do have time to make a family. You just don’t want to. But now, you can’t.”  
“Wha- What do you mean?”   
“I’m not the forgiving type. You hurt my family. You stalked a child. You threatened a minor. Good luck finding a family in prison.” With that, Tony shot the man with the blaster set low enough to stun. He carried the body back into the warehouse.

“Found our mastermind. I’m sure Peter will be happy.” Tony threw the body onto the ground.  
“Tony. Is that? It isn’t?” Natasha looked at the man. “It’s him.” Tony nodded.   
“We just have to wait around for Police to arrive to deal with this. I’m going to check on the boys.” Tony turned and left the warehouse, heading for the van. 

Tony walked to the van. Harley was just climbing out as Peter lay, asleep, on the seats. 

“Is he alright?” Tony asked.  
“Yeah. Concussion. He’s asleep. I don’t think we should wake him.” Harley glanced at Peter.   
“He’ll be okay, Harley. You know he’ll heal within a few days.”   
“Yeah. I know. Still don’t like the idea of him in pain, though.”   
“I know. Let’s go wait with the others. We can close the van to keep him safe.” Tony moved to close the van.  
“I can stay here to watch him.” Clint offered. Tony nodded as he led Harley to the warehouse. 

Natasha was making sure that no one was going to wake up as Tony and Harley approached.   
“Who’s in charge of clean up?” Harley asked.   
“Damage control. The Avengers were here so all clean up is theirs.” Steve said. “We can go whenever we like.”  
“So why are we still here?”   
“Making sure none of these guys wake up,” Tony explained.  
“Alright. I’m heading back to the tower. Debrief when everyone’s back.” Steve said before walking away. Clint, Thor, Bruce, and Sam went with Steve back to the tower, taking Peter with them. 

Harley walked over to the wall, staying close enough that if anyone were to wake up and cause a problem, he could jump in and help but far enough away that he could rest.  
He sat with his back against the wall, his knees drawn up tightly to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He didn’t hear the person walking towards him. 

“You alright, Kid?” Tony asked, sitting next to him.  
“Yeah. Just tired, I guess.”  
“Something else is bothering you, though.”  
“I just… These guys were ready to kill. Not Peter but… They were fine to kill me. I could have died. And after I called you guys, I realised that they were fine with killing you guys, too. I could have been the reason that the Avengers were killed.”  
“But you weren’t. We are all alive. We are fine. You are alive. You’re fine.”  
“Peter isn’t.”   
“But he’s alive. That’s good.”  
“And if he wasn’t? If I got in the way and caused him to die?”  
“All these ‘What ifs’ aren’t going to solve anything. Right now, Steve and the others are watching over Peter. They will make sure he’s safe. There are doctors at the tower and Bruce is there, too. Peter is safe. Natasha, Wanda, Rhodey, me and you are going to stay here until the police arrive then if you want, I’ll take you home and we can go check on Peter.”  
“What about the others? Auntie Nat can’t fly back to the tower.”   
“We will sort that out when the situation arises,” Tony reassured Harley.   
Harley rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.  
“It’ll be okay, Kid. Peter’s strong. He’ll be okay in no time.”  
“Yeah.” 

The police arrived soon after. As promised, Tony flew back to the tower with Harley after checking that Wanda and Natasha were fine getting back, Rhodey offering to carry one of them on his back as he flew. Natasha and Wanda got a cab as Tony, Rhodey and Harley flew to the tower. 

Harley rushed to get out of his suit before heading to the med-floor.   
Tony was waiting there.

“Is Peter okay?”  
“Stable. We don’t want to wake him as we don’t think he can feel the pain as much right now. If he moves, he might agitate the injuries and cause himself pain. I have tried to heal him as much as I can, working with his super healing powers, but something seems off about them.” Bruce was standing in the doorway to an office.   
“Off? What do you mean?”  
“Has Peter been sleeping?”  
“Yeah. Every night.”  
“Eating?”  
“As much as we can.”  
“Has anything been causing him a lot of stress in the past few days?”  
“Not that I know of. What’s going on?”  
“Peter seems to be healing at a slower pace than usual and it seems consistent with speeds of his healing when he was sleep deprived or underfed.”  
“I think he’s been eating and sleeping. We go to bed each night and he’s there when I wake up most mornings. We always eat breakfast before going down to the lab and we have snacks in there. Then we have dinner with everyone.”  
“If I may be of any help. Peter gets out of bed after a couple of hours of sleep each night and then gets back into bed just before Harley wakes up.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice filled the hallway.  
“Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y,” Tony called.   
“Do you know why he gets up, F.R.I.D.A.Y?” Harley asked after a minute or two.   
“No, sorry, Harley. He usually just goes down and sits in the lab.”  
“Okay. Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Harley sat on the floor and leaned against the wall.  
“It’ll be okay, Kid. Peter’s strong.”  
“I know. I’m still worried, though.”  
“I know.”  
“Tony. Are you guys ready for debriefing?” Natasha asked as she walked towards them.  
“Peter isn’t.”  
“We don't need the boys there.”  
“Can I be there, though?”  
“Why?”  
“It’s better than sitting here.”  
“Alright. Let’s go, I guess.” Tony, Harley and Bruce followed Natasha into the elevator and up to the shared lounge.

“Harley. I’m glad you’re here. Can you tell us what happened?”  
“Oh. Um. Well. We were up on a rooftop, just admiring the view of the city. Karen alerted Peter of a possible public disturbance by the wastewater treatment plant. It seemed to be a trap. He was waiting for us. Before we could do anything, he had a group surrounding us. We both got hit a lot. I was then held and they kept hitting Peter. Even when he was unconscious. They kept hitting and kicking him. I was screaming at them to stop and they wouldn’t-”  
“It’s okay.” Tony moved from his seat to hold Harley who was now crying.  
“You can leave if you want, Harley. We just needed to know what happened before you called us. Thank you.”   
“I’ll stay. It’s okay.” Harley took a deep breath and curled into Tony. Tony gently rubbed Harley’s back. 

The team continued to talk about what happened, coming up with more questions than answers. 

“How did they know about Peter?”  
“How were they able to overpower the boys?”  
The list went on, each person asking a different but important question.

“I’ll do all the looking I can into these guys but I can’t promise that I will get answers to all these questions,” Tony said.   
“You shouldn’t have to do all that. You look after Peter. We can try to do research and stuff.” Steve said.   
“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Can you use footage from Peter’s suit, Harley’s suit and my suit and run facial recognition on anyone in those videos, please? And bring up any records you have on anyone you find. Also. Find records for Grant Willis.”  
“Of course, Tony.”  
“Thanks.” Tony smiled. “I have research covered. It’s okay.” Tony said to the team. “Hey, Kid. I think you should go to bed,” Tony whispered.  
“No. I should go check on Peter. And tell May what happened.”  
“I’ll go check on Peter. You talk to May then go to bed. I’ll come in and tell you how Peter is, yeah?”   
Harley was too tired to argue. “Alright.” He sighed before dragging himself out of the seat and heading to the elevator. 

“Is he going to be okay?” Clint asked.  
“I hope so. He got knocked around a bit but his suit isn’t reading any injuries. I think he’s just worried about Peter and tired from fighting earlier. Hopefully, he’s feeling a bit better tomorrow after sleeping.”   
“I think you should go to bed, too, Tony. You look like crap.” Clint laughed.   
“I have to go check on Peter then go make sure Harley is okay. Then go and talk to May about what happened. Then I can think about going to bed.”   
“Alright. You still look like crap though.” Tony left the room, heading down to the med-floor. He walked down to the room Peter was in.

Peter was lying on the bed, a machine beeping next to him, his chest rising and falling slightly.

“He’s okay. Just broken bones and concussion.” Tony jumped at Bruce’s voice.   
“Has he healed at all?”  
“Very slightly. I think if he starts to wake up anytime in the next 15 hours, I’ll keep him here just so that he can rest properly. Is that okay?”  
“Yeah. He needs it. I can’t believe we didn’t notice he wasn’t sleeping properly. He always has so much energy. Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? How much caffeine does Peter digest daily?”  
“Usually about 6 times the recommended maximum amount daily.”  
“Why didn’t you alert anyone, F.R.I.D.A.Y?”  
“Peter was constantly asking me not to. He knew I would but he also knows that if he doesn’t want you to know, he just needs to ask me.”  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y. From now on, if anyone in this tower has unhealthy habits like this, you alert me. Especially if they ask you not to.”  
“Yes, Tony. You will need to update information about each person.”  
“Okay. I’ll do that… Whenever I can. Remind me later.”  
“Tony. Stop. Take a breath. Peter is okay. Two doctors are coming in here every 15-20 minutes. You can talk to Peter about this when he has healed. You can deal with F.R.I.D.A.Y’s programming once everyone is okay. Go do whatever you have to do. I promise Peter is safe here.”  
“Okay. Thank you, Bruce. I’ll be back here in the morning.”  
“Whatever. Get some rest, Tony.”

Tony went back to the elevator and up to the private floor. He went to Harley’s room. 

“Is Peter okay?” Harley asked as soon as Tony walked into the room.   
“Peter is fine. Still hurt as his body is unable to heal but he will be okay. He’s still unconscious at the moment and Bruce wants to keep him down there for a while to make sure he starts sleeping properly.”  
“Okay. When do you think I can go see him?”  
“I reckon you should wait until he’s awake and alert. No point sitting next to an unconscious body for hours at a time.”  
“Okay. Good point.”  
“Now. I want you to try and sleep a little. You must be tired after that big fight earlier. And it’s-” Tony looked at his watch. “1 in the morning. Wow. No wonder I’m so tired. Go to sleep, yeah. See you in the morning.” Tony gave Harley a quick hug before leaving the room and heading towards May’s room. 

“Hey, May. Has Harley come in?”  
“No. Is he okay?”  
“Yeah. Harley’s okay. Just went to bed.”  
“It’s 1 am. Why were the boys still up?”  
“Patrol went a little sideways,” Tony answered hesitantly.  
“What? Is Peter okay? What happened?”  
“Peter’s fine. He’s unconscious in the med-room at the moment but he should be okay in a few days. There was a fight that the boys couldn’t handle and all The Avengers ended up being there. Peter got beat up a bit before we got there, though.”  
“Tony!”  
“I know, May. We didn’t know that Patrol would end up like this. It was only supposed to be an hour or two. Anyway. You should go to sleep. I’ll go check on Peter in the morning then come back and tell you if he’s okay. That sound good?”  
“Yeah. Night.”

Tony closed the door before he went to his room to relax. Pepper was sitting in bed, waiting for him. 

“Everything okay?” She asked as he flopped onto the bed.  
“Yeah. Just tired.”   
“Okay. Come on. Get changed into something clean. Then you’re allowed in bed.” Pepper smiled at Tony as he dragged himself to the bathroom to get changed. Once he was in bed, Pepper wrapped her arms around him.  
“Harley told me what happened. Said he wasn’t sure how long you’d be. Are you okay?”  
“Yeah. Just tired and worried.”  
“Did you get hurt?”  
“No. I’m okay.”  
“Okay. Let’s get some sleep then, yeah?”  
“Yeah.” 

***

“There is someone on the ground floor asking to see Tony Stark. They have been asked to leave but are refusing.” Tony was woken by F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice at 7:30 the next morning.  
“Who is it?”   
“Ned Leeds. Should I let him come up?”  
“No. Keep him down there. I will go down and see him soon.”

Tony dragged himself out of bed, trying not to disturb Pepper who had started stirring in her sleep. He had a quick shower and got dressed. After making himself a coffee and grabbing an apple, Tony headed down to the ground floor to yell at Ned.

The doors to the elevator opened and Tony stepped out. Within seconds, Ned was in front of him, asking to go see Peter. 

“Ned. Stop talking. It’s too early in the morning for this. Peter doesn’t want to see you. Harley doesn’t want to see you. I don’t want to see you. Why are you here?”   
“I saw on the news what happened last night. I just came by to make sure Peter was okay.”   
“Peter is fine. He’s in the med-room with doctors monitoring him.”  
“Can I… Can I see him?” Ned asked quietly.  
“After what you said to him. No way. I am so close to kicking you out of this building right now. The only reason I'm not is that there are people around.”  
“Can I at least see Harley? Neither of them is responding to my messages and I need to talk to them.”  
“No. You hurt Peter. You hurt him a lot. Peter is improving but there is no way I would let you turn up now to ruin that. He saw what you said about him on the news. I’m pretty sure he knows what you said to MJ after he and Harley left the school that day. I suggest you stop trying to contact Peter or Harley and leave before I force you to,” Tony said angrily.  
“Please, Mr Stark. I want to apologise. I know what I said and did was wrong. I know that it hurt Peter. I had no right at all to say those things. Please. I’m sorry for hurting Peter. Can I tell him that?” Ned begged.  
“When he wakes up, I will ask him if he is okay with you coming over to talk to him. Harley will also have an opinion and you will not be left alone with him. Understood?”  
“Yes. Thank you, Mr Stark.”  
“Now leave. I will contact you if Peter and Harley are okay with you coming over.” Tony turned around and went back into the elevator.  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Please alert me if that kid doesn’t leave.”  
“He has just left the building now.”

Tony stopped on the med-floor, planning on checking on Peter.   
He stopped outside the door to the room Peter was in and waited for the doctor to come out. He only had to wait for a couple of minutes.  
“Hey. Excuse me. How is he doing?” Tony asked the doctor.  
“He’s stable. Still unconscious, though. For more information, you would probably have to talk to Dr Banner.”  
“Okay. Thanks. Am I allowed to go in?” The doctor nodded before walking off. Tony entered the room.   
“Geez, Kid. You’re gonna give me a heart attack soon,” Tony said as he sat down next to the bed.   
“Thought he would have already given you one. He’s been here more times than I can count.” Bruce said as he walked into the room.   
“How is he?”  
“Doing better than last night. He’s starting to heal faster than he was last night. He will need to wake up soon, though. He needs to eat and go to sleep properly. Being unconscious like this isn’t helping. I think he’s only healing because his body isn’t doing anything.”  
“Is there any way you can wake him up?”  
“No. He has to wake up naturally.”  
“Okay. I need to go talk to May and Harley. Make sure they’re okay. I’ll be back down here soon. If he wakes up, get F.R.I.D.A.Y to contact me.”  
“Okay. Will do.” Bruce smiled softly at Tony. Tony glanced at Peter before leaving and heading back to the elevator. Harley was already awake and was making breakfast in the kitchen. 

“Morning, Harley. How are you?” Tony asked, placing his half-empty mug on the bench in front of him.  
“I’m okay. Feeling better than I was last night.”  
“Thought you might. I’ve just come from the med-floor. Peter is still unconscious. Healing slowly.”  
“Is he okay, though?”  
“Yeah. He’s okay. Also. Ned came by early this morning.”  
“Ned Leeds?”  
“Yeah.”  
“What’d he want?” Tony could hear the dislike in his voice.  
“He wants to apologise.”  
“Apologise?”  
“Do I need a parrot? Yes. Apologise.”  
“I don’t want to see him. I don’t think Peter would want to, either.”  
“That’s what I told him. But if Peter wants to talk to him?”  
“Does Peter need to know he was here?”  
“Kinda, yeah.”  
“Alright. Toast?” Harley changed the subject. Tony shook his head.  
“Tell May what I said about Peter. I’m heading down to the lab.” Tony grabbed his coffee, took a bite of his apple and walked out. Harley reached for his phone as soon as Tony had left. 

Stay away from the tower. If I hear that you have been here again, I will not hesitate to beat you up while wearing either my or Peters suit in public. - Harley

Harley put his phone back on the bench, half hoping Ned wouldn’t reply. Unfortunately, his phone buzzed. 

I only want to apologise. What’s your problem with that? - Ned  
WHAT’S MY PROBLEM? YOU HURT PETER. YOU HURT HIM A LOT. YOU CAUSED A PANIC ATTACK WHILE HE WAS AT SCHOOL. YOU TOLD HIM HE WAS ACTING LIKE A BABY WHILE HE WAS TRYING TO WORK THROUGH A TRAUMATIC EVENT. WHAT’S YOUR F***ING PROBLEM!? - Harley  
Woah, dude. Chill. I didn’t kill anyone. I will return to the tower to apologise to Peter if Mr Stark doesn’t contact me soon. I have to talk to Peter. - Ned  
And if Peter doesn’t want to see you? - Harley  
Then I will find a way to contact him so that I can apologise for what I did. - Ned  
Whatever. I’m busy. Have to go. Stop messaging me. I’ve been ignoring you for a reason. - Harley.  
Harley put his phone back on the bench, grabbed his breakfast, and went out to the lounge, leaving his phone in the kitchen.

***

“Tony. Peter has just woken up.” Tony instantly stood up from the bench he was working at and almost ran to the elevator. 

“Peter? Peter. Oh. Thank god you’re okay. Are you okay?” Tony asked, rushing into the med-room.  
“Hey, Mr Stark. Yeah. I’m okay.” Peter smiled.   
“The most sleep you’ve had for a while, yeah?”  
“Haha. Yeah.” Peter laughed. “What. How’d you know?” Peter asked, confused.  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y told me.”  
“I asked her not to. Ugh. F.R.I.D.A.Y. Why’d you tell?”  
“I am obliged to answer any questions asked of me. Especially if it is about someone’s health.”  
“Whatever. I’m fine, Mr Stark.”  
“No, Peter. You aren’t. How much have you been eating recently?”  
“Oh my- Not this again. I am eating fine. I’m sleeping fine. I’m training fine. I am fine. Please don’t.”  
“Don’t what?”  
“Give me whatever punishment you have planned. I don’t think I’ll be going out on patrol for a few days considering I got injured but surely I can still spend time in my lab and spend time with Harley and stuff.”  
“I’m not going to stop you from all that. I will be putting some more rules in. Your door will be locked at night with you in the room so that you will sleep. And because there are usually people here during the day and you don’t have school, we will all make an effort to make sure you eat lunch and dinner.”  
“Mr Stark. I’m 17, almost 18. You can’t keep treating me like a child.”  
“Once you start learning how to take care of yourself, then I will stop treating you like a child.”  
“I can take care of myself. I shower every day. Eat food. Rest appropriately. I can look after myself.”  
“No, Peter. You aren’t. You are consuming more coffee than you should just to keep pretending that you are okay. You aren’t okay though. Why aren’t you sleeping?”  
“What do you want to hear?”  
“The truth, preferably.”  
“You want to hear that I just have too much energy to sleep so I stay up each night. Then when the morning comes, I’m tired but it’s too late to go to sleep.”  
“That’s not the truth, Peter.   
“I know! I don’t want to- I can’t tell the truth,” Peter whispered.  
“Why not?”  
“It doesn’t matter.”   
“Yes, it does. Peter. What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing. Is Harley awake?”  
Tony sighed. “Yeah. Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y? Call Harley down here, please.”

Harley arrived a few minutes later. 

“Hey. Are you okay?” Harley asked as soon as he walked into the room.  
“Yeah. I’m okay. A little sore, though.” Peter smiled at Harley.   
There was some light conversation between the three of them, discussing what Peter and Harley want to build and how they’re going to do it, what they want for dinner and other random topics. 

“Time for you two to leave. Peter needs to rest.” Bruce stopped their conversation after about half an hour.   
“Can I leave, Dr Banner?”  
“No. Due to the speed at which your body is healing, and your lack of sleep, I want you to stay here so that you can be monitored.”  
“I’m not a child. I can sleep in my bed.”  
“But you haven’t been. That’s why you’re staying here. Get some rest, Peter.” Tony walked out after giving Peter a worried look.  
“Peter. You should stay here and rest. I understand that it’s going to be boring but it’s better than further hurting yourself while pretending to be okay. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you weren’t sleeping. Get some sleep and I’ll be back here whenever I’m allowed.” Harley gave Peter a small smile before following Tony back up to the private floor.

“You ask him about Ned?”   
“Not yet. He just woke up.”  
“You have to ask him soon. I messaged Ned just after you told me he came by. He said he would do whatever he could to contact Peter to apologise.”  
“Wow. The kid must feel bad after what he did then.”  
“Still doesn’t make it right,” Harley mumbled.  
“I know that doesn’t make it right but if he’s feeling guilty, then maybe he didn’t mean it.”  
“He went on TV and said Peter shouldn’t be protecting the city right after he had an anxiety attack on patrol. Why are you defending him?”  
“I’m not. I just know what it’s like to say stuff to people and feel guilty. Only I didn’t have the chance to apologise.”  
“Whatever, then. Let him talk to Peter. I don’t care. Up to Peter, I guess.”  
“Harley. I’m not trying to force you to let him apologise. I just think that Peter needs his best friend back and Ned looks like he needs his friends back, too. Peter is probably still hurting after what Ned said because it came out of nowhere while Peter was suffering.”  
“I know that he should apologise. I just don’t like the idea of him being near Peter.”  
“It’s okay, Harley. We won’t let them be in a room alone and if you want, we can make him apologise formally in front of everyone so that he won’t try anything and then leave immediately.”  
“That’s a little extreme. I think just you and I in the room with them should be enough.”  
“Right. I’ll ask Peter about it in a couple of days. You think you could message Ned to wait a few days?”  
“Yeah.” Harley pulled out his phone and messaged Ned, turning it off in case Ned replied.

***

Peter was okay with Ned coming to the tower to apologise. He didn’t want Ned in the hospital, though. Dr Banner agreed to let Peter go down to the ground floor to talk to Ned with Tony and Harley. 

“Are you sure about this?” Harley asked as they were heading down in the elevator.  
“Not really. But it could help. Mr Paltrow said that one way to help my mental state improve was to accept what happened and apologise whenever I could.”  
“You have nothing to apologise for. It’s him that needs to apologise.”  
“We kinda did shut him out for the time that we weren’t at school. We could have at least told him what was going on.”  
“Didn’t give him the right to say those things.”  
“Whatever, Harley. I still feel guilty.”  
“When was the last time you went to see Mr Paltrow?”  
“It was a while ago. I haven’t been in the mood to see him. I have contacted him to let him know that I’m okay and that if I do need him, I will reach out. I am taking care of myself.”  
“Peter. That was to help you. I’m sorry but you still kinda need it.”  
“I don’t feel I do. It is up to me, not you. I promise I’m okay.” Peter gave Harley a reassuring smile. The doors opened. 

Tony was already standing by the elevator, Ned walking towards them.

“There’s a waiting room through here. It’ll probably be easier to sit and talk, yeah?” All three boys nodded and followed Tony through to the waiting room. Peter grabbed Harley’s hand as they walked. Harley squeezed reassuringly.   
“Take a seat, boys.”  
“This isn’t a formal meeting, Mr Stark,” Harley said, hoping it would distract Peter a little.  
“Still. Take a seat. I’m hoping to avoid any physical fighting.”  
“I’m sorry,” Ned mumbled. “I messed up. Badly. MJ told a few others what I had done and now I’m back to that kid with no friends. I’m so sorry, Peter.”  
“It’s okay. I… I kinda understand why you said those things. You were right, though. What you said on the news. I shouldn’t be protecting the city in that state.”  
“No. None of what I said was right. You had every right to take time off school. I guess MJ was right. I was a little jealous that you get to work alongside the Avengers and have everything you want here. I know that I have no right to be jealous. You deserve everything here. I honestly don’t know what came over me a school but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I’m so sorry, Peter.”  
“It’s okay, Ned. I understand. I’m sorry for not contacting you. I know that I should have let you know what was going on. You’re my guy in the chair. You deserved to know.”  
“It’s not okay, Peter. You can forgive if you want but it’s not okay.” Harley said, seemingly ignoring Ned.   
“Harls. It’s okay. Honestly.”  
“It’s not okay. You had an anxiety attack at school on your first day back after what happened on patrol.”  
“Harls. Please. Just leave it. I understand what happened and it’s okay. I’m fine, okay.”  
“Ned. You have apologised. Peter. Do you forgive him?” Tony stepped in.   
“Yeah. I forgive you, Ned.”  
“Okay. If you boys want, you can organise a time to hang out but for now, Ned, I think you should leave.”  
“Uh, yeah. Message you later?” Ned asked as he got up, ready to leave.  
“Yeah. Talk later. See you.” Peter and Ned quickly performed their handshake before Ned headed towards the exit.   
Tony, Peter and Harley all headed up to the med-floor, as instructed by Dr Banner. 

***

“You’ll be okay?”  
“Yes, Dr Banner.”  
“You’ll sleep properly?” Peter nodded.  
“Eat?”  
“I promise I will start taking better care of myself and I will ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to remind me to eat and sleep. If I skip meals or don’t sleep, I will ask F.R.I.D.A.Y to alert someone who can force me to.”   
“Thank you, Peter. You’re free to go.”  
“Thank you, Dr Banner.”  
Peter left the med-room, planning on going up to the shared lounge.   
“Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Who’s in the shared lounge?”  
“Miss Romanoff, Mr Rogers, Mr Barnes, Mr Wilson, Miss Maximoff, Miss Parker and Mr Keener,” she replied.

“Hey, Peter. How are you?” Natasha asked as Peter walked into the room.  
“I’m good. Still a little sore but good.” Peter smiled at the group.  
“Something’s put you in a good mood,” Wanda observed, smiling at Peter.  
“Can’t I just be happy?”  
“What happened to put you in such a good mood?” Bucky asked, ignoring Peter’s question.  
“Ned came over and-”  
“He what?” May interrupted.  
“He came over and apologised for what happened. I got my friend back.”  
“He doesn’t deserve to step foot in this building,” Steve mumbled.   
“Does everyone know about my life?”  
“Only the bad stuff.” Wanda joked.  
“Alright. I came here for a reason. You guys interested in a big movie night here tonight?” Peter asked hopefully.  
“Of course. Any reason?”   
“I’ve been trapped in the hospital room for a few days and no one came to visit me while I was there.”  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y would have told us if something was wrong.”  
“Still could have visited me. I was lonely.”  
“I came to visit. Mr Stark didn’t want me in there while you were unconscious, though.” Harley spoke up.   
“Movie night. We need to invite everyone else down here. And organise snacks. And mattresses. And a movie line up.” Peter rushed to the kitchen to raid the cupboards.   
“Is this a normal thing for you guys?” May asked.  
“Movie nights? Yeah. We have them all the time. Although I guess we haven’t had one for a while,” Natasha answered. Peter came rushing back into the room with a pile of packets, chips biscuits, gummies, lollies, anything he could find and carry back to the lounge.  
“F.R.I.D.A.Y, Could you call Mr Stark, Miss Pepper, Mr hawkeye, Mr Thor, Dr Banner, and Uncle James to this floor, please?”  
“Sure thing. Anything else?”  
“Uhh. Ask them to make sure they are wearing comfortable clothes.” Peter turned to the group of adults on the couches. “You guys need to get into comfortable clothes, too. Pyjamas or something.” The adults laughed but moved to get changed anyway. Peter rushed to the elevator and up to the top floor to get changed into his pyjamas and grabbing a few snacks from his bedroom.

Everyone was back in the shared lounge within five minutes. Peter was sitting on a mattress on the floor leaning against the couch with Harley on one side and Tony on the other. Pepper was on Tony’s other side and Wanda was next to Harley. The others were sitting on the couches. Thor was sitting in a seat, steve on the end of a couch next to him. Then Bucky next to steve with Sam on his other side. Clint and Natasha took up the two-seater. Rhodey, Bruce and May were all sitting in single seats, everyone facing the TV. 

Peter didn’t pay much attention to the movies. He had let everyone else decide on the movies and the order.

Peter sat there, between his boyfriend and the closest thing he’s had for a father in a long time, and let his mind wander. 

He let his mind go back to those quiet days in the lab, boy’s nights at Neds, the feeling of flying through the city, dinner with May in the apartment, going to the park with Uncle Ben. For the first time in a long time, Peter Parker finally felt truly okay.


End file.
